


Out of the Darkness

by StarvingLunatic



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Demigods, Demons, Drama, F/F, Family, First Meetings, Goddesses, Grandmothers, Novella, Reunions, Wordcount: 30.000-50.000, Wordcount: Over 30.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-27
Updated: 2016-03-17
Packaged: 2018-05-16 17:44:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 42,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5834875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarvingLunatic/pseuds/StarvingLunatic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set at the end of Season 4. Emma shoves the dagger into the Darkness, but things don't go exactly as expected. But, then again, how could they expect Regina's grandmother to pop up? And, crazier still, how could they expect her to put their family together? SwanQueen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Step Into the Light

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t own these characters.
> 
> A/N: this story started out as a one-shot I was using to explain some head-canon I plan to use in another story. It’s turned into a thing all its own. It’s set right at the end of season 4, the moment before Emma shoves the dagger into the darkness and goes from there, ignoring whatever the hell season 5 thought it was. So, meet Regina’s grandmother. For your mental viewing purposes, she would be played by [Mary McDonnell](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001521/), who is younger than Barbara Hershey, but that actually works with this story.
> 
> I have no beta, so expect typos. I apologize in advance for them.
> 
> And, lastly, this will be SwanQueen and if that bothers you, read at your own displeasure.

Out of the Darkness

1: Step Into the Light

Emma was not entirely sure what she was thinking as she charged toward Regina with the dagger in hand as the Darkness tried to swallow Regina whole. But, then again, she probably was not thinking. She was not much of a thinking-person. She was about action and reaction, which was why she jammed the dagger into the Darkness, _needing_ to save Regina.

Everyone stood, frozen and shocked by this scene. Emma sacrificed herself for Regina, for Regina’s happiness. Regina looked like she stopped breathing and Emma was not sure what to make of it. She was not sure what was about to happen, but she doubted it would be good. Still, Regina deserved to be happy after all of the crap she had gone through.

Emma expected this to at least hurt. She thought she would jerk back or feel something sort of sensation jolting through her. She thought the Darkness would actually go into the dagger. But, none of the above happened.

The Darkness swirled around the dagger, but settled in between the space of Emma and Regina. It molded itself into a column. Everyone watched on, tense and riveted, as the column took on a human form. For a second, it reminded Emma of the bad guy in Terminator 2, which she had snuck into way too many years ago. Emma rushed and stood in front of Regina, again not thinking, just acting. She brandished the dagger as a weapon now.

“What the hell is going on here?” Emma wondered with a panicked breath.

Emma glanced back at Regina, making sure she was okay. Regina had a curious look on her face, squinting like she was studying the onyx blob, as she stared into the pulsing void of Darkness. Emma looked at her with wide eyes. 

“Regina…” Emma hoped Regina was not thinking about doing something stupid. After all, she was the stupid one around here.

Regina did not say anything, might not have even heard Emma. She just tilted her head as she continued to watch the void. The Darkness took the shape of a human and then lightning struck it. Purple smoke wafted from the onyx form and then there was a person there. 

“Greetings, Storybrooke,” a calm, female voice said as the cloud lifted. It revealed a rather well put together woman with waves of auburn hair, couture black dress on, and heels. She ran a hand down her dress, as if trying to straighten it out.

Gasping, Regina put her hand over her mouth as her eyes went wide. “Nana?”

Emma whipped around. “Nana?” She and pretty much everyone present echoed in baffled tone. Regina had a “nana”?

“Oh, my little filly,” the new woman smiled gleefully, eyes shining, as she put out her arms. It was like she was waiting for a hug. A hug from Regina? Emma almost laughed aloud. Fat chance of that happ—

“Nana.” Regina sidestepped Emma and went right to the woman. They embraced, tightly. Okay, so Regina had a grandmother who was a hugger and who Regina hugged. This was weird… like weirder than a flying patch of Darkness turning into a person. _How is that there’s stuff out here that surprises me?_

“Now, let’s have a look at you.” The woman stepped away from Regina, openly giving her the once over.

“Nana, what are you doing here?” Regina asked. Was there a quiver in her voice? A tremble in her jaw?  
  
“I think it’s about time for me to intervene, filly. This has gone on long enough, yes?” her grandmother asked with an almost kind smile and her eyes sort of twinkled. Weird because Emma was almost certain this woman was related to Cora.  
  
Emma wondered what the woman meant. Had the fighting gone on long enough? Had the cursing gone on long enough? Had the blood feud gone on long enough? Had Regina losing gone on long enough? Or was it just the cycle of adventure, adventure, adventure, no-room-to-breathe that had gone on long enough?  
  
“Okay, what’s going on?” Emma demanded, moving back in front of Regina.  
  
Regina’s grandmother turned her attention to Emma. Again, she could see Cora there, but it was very different. The eyes were different, even though they were a familiar brown. These eyes were not as cold and predatory like Cora’s gaze. They were hidden behind some stylish glasses with black frames.  
  
In fact, the woman was stylish point blank. She was dressed like she was definitely related to Regina. Her hair was perfect. Maybe she was a queen. What other Disney queens or magic beings were left? _Grandma Willow? Mad Madam Mim?_

“Emma Swan.” The woman smiled and pressed her hands together, holding them in front of her mouth for a moment. “It certainly is a pleasure to finally meet you. I’ve waited so long.” She then looked around. “And, my great grandson?” She practically grinned.

“Henry.” Regina waved him over.

It seemed like this was okay, but there was something definitely weird here. Emma noticed how her parents had not moved and David was sort of in a defensive position, hand on his holster. Hook and Robin were tense as well. There was just something up here.

Henry came over, sneakers hitting the street black top pretty hard, and he stood by Regina. She put her arm around him and pulled him close. He looked at the woman and she smiled, a tearful sort of smile. Maybe this was not weird. Maybe it was just a sad union and reunion.

“Nana, this is Henry,” Regina introduced them with a proud smile. “Henry, this is my nana.” 

“You’re such a handsome young man. You’ve certainly come a long way.” The woman reached out and caressed Henry’s cheek. “You’re practically a man.” She stepped back to look at him. Henry blushed.

Regina’s eyes went wide, almost in panic. “Not yet, Nana.”

“Well, never to you, of course,” she corrected with another smile. “Now…” She opened her arms for Henry. Okay, so she was definitely a hugger, which, again, was weird. 

Henry looked to Regina, who nodded. Henry embraced his great grandmother and she held him close. She breathed in his scent and hummed, apparently truly intrigued by him. He smiled, like he was okay with this. So, yeah, maybe this was okay. Of course, that did not make any less weird.

But, again, Emma noticed her parents had not relaxed. In fact, David’s hand was even closer to his gun now. Regina was cool with it, though. Emma was not sure how to take this, so she just stayed by Regina and Henry. If something happened, she was there and if nothing happened… well, she was there.

“Well, standing in it, I can see this is actually a quaint little town. Now, Regina, dear, how about you introduce me around to your little family. Certainly there’s some place we could go.” The woman’s eyes lit up as her index finger made a small circle gesture. “ _Granny’s_! I would love to sit with you all in _Granny’s_ and chat for a moment. Perhaps see why Emma is so fond of grilled cheese sandwiches.”

“Why the hell do you know so much about me?” Emma scowled. Not that her love of grilled cheese was a secret around town anymore.

“Was that too informal? I should hate to start with ‘Miss Swan,’ as I was certain that was your thing with Regina,” the woman smirked.

“Nana!” Regina barked. “Yes, let’s just go to _Granny’s_.” This seemed to be said just to get the other woman to stop talking.

The woman practically beamed and took a step forward, moving in a way that grace itself would envy. Everyone else fell into line behind her. Then she turned and Emma’s parents, Hook, and Hood all stopped. This was quite curious.

“I think I only want this to be a family affair,” she announced, holding up a finger.

“You’re out of your mind if you think I’m leaving I’ll leave alone Regina with the likes of you,” Robin declared, pointing at her.

A slight laugh escaped her and it was nothing like her smile. It was dark, dangerous, taunting. It sort of buzzed its way through Emma. And, she could not be sure, but she thought she heard thunder off in the distance.

“Do you honestly think that’s something you should worry about? I’m not going to harm my own granddaughter. I just think I would prefer it if her baggage didn’t come along.” Regina’s grandmother then shooed him away, completely with a flicked wrist.

Robin flinched. “Baggage?” he echoed with a frown.

“Nana,” Regina cautioned her.

The woman waved her off. “Now, now, dear.” She actually wagged her finger at Regina. “You know I’m not one to mince words. I want to get to know your family, not your baggage. So…” She looked at Robin and Hook. “So, you two may be on your way.”

“You’re bloody daft if you think I’ll let Emma go with you, witch,” Hook declared.

Okay, so Regina’s grandmother was a witch. That made sense. Regina was a witch, her sister was a witch, her mother was a witch, so why not her grandmother? Her grandmother seemed like the calmer one of the bunch, though… well, until she glared at Killian and he sort of withered under her gaze, stepping back and flinching more than Emma had ever seen. 

“Do you really wish to tempt me, pirate? The only reason I haven’t killed you where you stand is out of respect for Emma. Well, and I’m sure Regina wouldn’t like me dispatching rude men in front of her son. Now, if you enjoy your life, I suggest you and the confused archer go about your business. There’s nothing here for you,” Regina’s grandmother proclaimed in a stern tone with a look to match.

Emma wondered what Killian’s problem was and how the hell he knew Regina’s grandmother, but then again, it felt like she and Henry were the only ones who did not know Regina’s grandmother. Hook backed away and Hood did not even move as Regina’s grandmother turned right back around. She walked on and Regina followed with Henry by her side. Emma looked at Hook and then at Regina. She walked on, wanting to know what the hell was going on… or that was what she told herself.

Before Emma could look back, magic swirled around them and they were suddenly at _Granny’s_. They were at the table by the window in front of the dinner, all sitting together, like once before. Hell, almost all the same seats with Snow next to Regina and Henry and Emma across from them, but Henry was next to David. David was at the head of the table and Regina’s grandmother sat opposite of him. So, apparently, Regina’s grandmother counted Emma and her parents as part of Regina’s family. Weird again.

The next weird thing was how the diner seemed to come to a complete and utter halt. One second it was bustling with activity and then everything was silent. Then, there were all eyes on their table. Emma glanced around. _Is some shit about to go down?_  

“Well, the service here is terrible already,” Regina’s grandmother remarked giving them all a little amused chuckle.

Suddenly, the Blue Fairy appeared, scowling at Regina’s grandmother. “Lilith,” she hissed.

“Lilith?” Emma echoed. Somehow, she got the feeling this was a much bigger deal than the last Lilith she met.

“Lilith, what are you doing here?” the Blue Fairy demanded. The other patrons of the diner lined up behind her while Regina’s grandmother just sat there. Several fairies and dwarves were amongst the crowd.

“I’m clearly here for my granddaughter. You remember her, right? The child you forsook simply because of my line? And her family, as well as Rumplestiltskin, but he’ll hold for later. If you’d like to be added to the list, please, let me know. I can oblige,” Lilith said in a calm tone, but her eyes changed.  
  
Blue backed up, fear clearly in her eyes. So, apparently, Regina’s grandmother was a big enough deal to cause the baddest fairy in the land figuratively wet herself. An energy seemed to spark off of Lilith and the Blue Fairy visibly gulped.

“I think living amongst so many mortals for so many years has clearly gone to your head, Blue. Now, the only reason you’re not on my list of persons already is because you actually hold no domain over Regina since she’s my blood. You refuse to recognize her ichor and would rather act like she was poisonous and destined to be damned,” Lilith proclaimed, her voice rising just a little as she climbed to her feet.

“Wasn’t she?” Blue challenged.

A frown sliced across Lilith’s face. “How could she be anything else with no one by her side in dark times beyond the foul-breathed imp corrupting her very soul?”

“She was never my responsibility,” Blue replied.

“Then you have no right to place blame on her. She’s not yours,” Lilith stated, glaring down on Blue like she was type of insect. “Now, as you can see, I’m in the middle of something. Perhaps if you scurry away now, I won’t make you that something.”

Blue flinched and stepped back. While it seemed like she was trying to stand her grounds, her breathing was very loud. Lilith was calm, posed, arms folded across her belly and waiting like a cat. The crowd seemed to back down with each second that passed.

“Look, sister,” Grumpy hissed, marching up to Lilith, getting in her face. “We’re not scared of you. We’re not just going to let you come up in here and try to wreck everything.”  
  
Lilith’s face pulled into a grimace, like she smelled something awful, and then waved her hand, as if dismissing Leroy’s words. Everyone flinched except Regina, Emma, and Henry. A few people actually dropped all the way to the floor. Henry and Emma looked at each other, four wide eyes and four curled up eyebrows. Who the hell was Regina’s grandmother? The town seemed less terrified of Gold.

“You silly person, I’ve no desire to ‘wreck everything.’ I’m here for my family.” Lilith motioned to the table.

“That’s bullshit. You’re just another obstacle in the way of us getting home,” Leroy declared.

A short laugh escaped Lilith. “You are some type of fool, are you not? This is home. This is where everyone you love and hold dear is. What else could this possibly be?” She regarded Leroy with curl to her lip, disgusted by him.  
  
Emma actually agreed with that thought. She found herself relieved that Lilith showed up just because she was with her family instead of possibly lost in the Darkness. Or even worse, the new Dark One. The idea made her stomach flip. She did not know what might have happened if she turned into the Dark One, but she doubted she would have been sitting in _Granny’s_ with her family if she had.

“You don’t fool us, sister.” Leroy sneered, like he was about to go off.

Lilith held up a hand to him, halting him, making his duck a little again. “Listen, I have no desire to stand here, prattling with you fools. I want to spend time with my granddaughter and great grandson. Now, the next person who wants to stand in the way of that will utterly regret crossing me. If you have no business with me, return to your daily lives. If you feel you do have business with me, bring it to me now.”

Plenty of eyes went to Snow and David. The couple in turn looked to Blue. The Blue Fairy watched Lilith for a second before backing away completely. Most others followed. Lilith smiled as she turned her attention to those at the table and eased back into her seat as if nothing happened.

“Now, for proper introductions,” Lilith said, focusing on Emma And Henry. “So, I’m Lilith. I don’t come with a surname. I’m Regina’s grandmother and, yes, Cora’s mother. Still, it’s a pleasure.” She held out her hand for Emma.  
  
“A pleasure?” Emma was skeptical and that came through in more than just the weak handshake. Maybe Lilith had no idea Emma played a small role in Cora’s death.  
  
“Yes, it is. I bear you no ill will.” Lilith glanced at Mary Margaret. “You as well, but only because you’re my great grandson’s grandmother. I know how my daughter and how she could be. More ambition than necessary, but how you used my little filly to accomplish your goals wasn’t a manner I can agree with. Still, Henry loves you, so you will not be destroyed.”

“Really?” Emma could hardly believe someone coming here was actually here in peace. No outsider ever came in peace, not even her!  
  
“Yes, really. It’s quite fine. Water under the bridge and all that,” Lilith said and then turned to Henry. She gave him a restrained, but still bright smile. “The little prince. I’ve wanted to meet you for, so long.”  
  
Henry opened his mouth, like he was about to say something, but Ruby interrupted them. She stepped over with her pen and pad in hand. She was possibly the only waitress in the place who bothered serving Regina. She gave Mary Margaret a look with her lips pursed and her eyebrows bent in. Mary Margaret shrugged. Not satisfied, Ruby looked at Emma with the same expression.

“Don’t look at me,” Emma stated, throwing her hands up. Ruby probably knew more than she did.

“Okay, so I guess I’ll just take your orders,” Ruby said.

“Nana wants to try your grilled cheese sandwich,” Regina stated.

Ruby nodded while jotting down the order. “And everyone else will have their usual dinners?”

Everyone basically confirmed that with a nod. Ruby stared at them for a moment and then trotted off. There was a bit of a silence between the group after that. Leave it to Henry to brave breaking it.

“So… Nana?” Henry paused and his forehead wrinkled as he thought hard on something. “Is that what I should call you? I mean, that’s usually for a grandmother and you’re Mom’s grandmother, not mine.”

Lilith smiled. “Nana is fine.”

“Okay, so, Nana, why is the first time I’m hearing of you or seeing you or anything?” Henry asked. 

“It’s a very long story, Henry. I’ll tell you about it in private, away from all of these listening walls,” Lilith replied. “I really just want to take this time to get settled into this little family unit you have working here.” She gave him another smile.

“This isn’t the whole family,” Henry replied.

“I know.” Lilith turned her attention to Mary Margaret and David. “I know there’s a baby. I hope I’ll get to meet him as well.”

For a moment, Emma was not sure, but her parents might have sat on a cactus. They just looked really uncomfortable, squirming and gapping, but not answering. Emma could not take it anymore.

“Okay, Lilith, what’s the deal? Are you about to kill everybody in town and this is our last meal or something?” Emma inquired. 

She laughed. “Heavens, no. I would never.”

“Emma, please,” Regina scolded her, giving her a look that left her even more chastised than the tone.

“What? I’m just trying to figure this out. I mean, yeah, she’s your grandmother and all, but she’s Cora’s mom. And, I gotta admit that makes I’m a little nervous about her intentions,” Emma stated plainly. If Lilith was related to Cora, like seriously her mother even though they appeared about the same age, then Emma figured she would have to protect her own mother. 

“As I said, I have no desire to avenge Cora,” Lilith replied. “I knew how my daughter was. I bear you no ill will or ill intent.”

“And my mother?” Emma pressed, even though Lilith had already said she did not hold anything against Snow.

Lilith glanced over at Snow and sort of grimaced in her direction. Well, that did not seem promising. It was not made better when Snow put her head down.

“We’re family, dear. I’d never deprive Henry of his grandmother. Trust me, I know how cruel that can be,” Lilith commented.

Before they could jump into any more conversation, Ruby hustled back with their drinks. She rushed off just as quickly as she showed up. Emma knew this was because of Lilith. Ruby usually would stay and shoot the shit, even with Regina at this point.

“Okay, why the hell is everyone so damned nervous then if you’re not the next villain?” Emma inquired.

Tilting her head, Lilith laughed a little while looking at Emma as if she were some kind of idiot and maybe she was. “Oh, don’t you know, dear?”

“No, I don’t. Henry?” Emma turned to him since he was an expert on who-the-hell-everyone-was in the other world.

Henry shrugged. “I dunno. I didn’t even know Mom was related to the Miller’s daughter or that Gold was Rumplestiltskin.” He turned to Regina and Emma did the same.

Regina shot Emma a teasing smile. “Really? You have no idea who my grandmother is. I mean, aren’t you well read?”

Emma glared at Regina. “Shut up, Regina. Just tell us,” she huffed, tapping her hand against the cold top of the small table.

“I’m not entirely sure how to explain Nana. Nana?” Regina turned to her grandmother.

“I suppose the easiest thing you’d relate me to since you’re from this realm is a demon,” Lilith informed Emma. She said it as if it was the most natural thing in the world, like Emma met demons all the times.

“So, demons are real now?” Emma deadpanned.

“Well, I’m more considered a god in the Enchanted Forest and started that way here, but my story in this world has changed over time, which is to be expected. Nothing stays the same over thousands of years. Besides, it’s all sort of the same thing in the Enchanted Forest,” Lilith replied.

“Got it!” Henry held up his phone and then turned his attention to the screen. Apparently, he was about to read up on his great grandmother right now. Hopefully, he could fill Emma in.

While Henry read up on Lilith, Ruby came back with their food. Emma was tempted to ask Ruby about this whole thing, but Ruby did not stick around. She did not have to wait for information long, though.

“Oh! I’ve read stories about you,” Henry declared with eyes still stuck on his phone. Then, he looked up, curiosity already burning in his gaze. “So, are you a god or a demon or a succubus?”

“All of the above, I suppose,” Lilith answered.

“A succubus?” Emma echoed as she searched her brain for the word. This sounded familiar, but she was not entirely sure what it was.

“Like a vampire, but they suck out souls, not blood,” Henry explained. 

Emma nodded. She felt a little stupid, needing her twelve-year-old son to explain things to her. But, Henry was a smart kid, both in book smarts and street smarts. He was a good little mix of her and Regina in that regard. Besides, it was not like she had time to bone up on these things with one crisis after the next happening all the damn time.

“Wait, so you suck souls, Nana?” Henry asked. 

Lilith grabbed a french fry and nibbled it. She sort of looked like Regina when Regina stole fries from Emma’s plate, like the fries were not that great, but somehow the whole basket would vanish within a few minutes with not many fries going to Emma. Once the one fry was gone, Lilith went in for more, just like Regina did.

“I’ve been known to take spiritual energy from humans and others, yes,” Lilith answered.

“Are you…” Henry glanced over at Snow and David. Both of them shifted a little and David leaned in closer to Snow, ready to protect her at a moment’s notice.

Lilith rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, relax. I’m not going to do that to them. I have no need to do it at the moment anyway.” 

“Okay, so not them, but anyone else?” Emma asked. She might need to watch Lilith regardless. It was not like she could trust a demon, even if Regina seemed taken with her. Besides, Regina’s relatives had bad track records in town anyway.

“Oh, I won’t need to do that for a while, if it is necessary at all,” Lilith replied.

“And you’re what, gonna let us know when it’s necessary for you to kill people?” Emma arched an eyebrow. 

“I don’t think that’s necessary, unless you really need to be included in that information. It’s not as if you could stop me should I decide to tell you, though. Besides, I think you’d be dead by the time I’d need to draw out anyone’s spiritual energy,” Lilith replied.

Emma frowned. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m not like some vampire who needs blood every so often. I’m not some wandering succubus either looking to seduce my way through waves of men and steal their souls. I’m the zenith of what you would consider demons.” Lilith pulled a face as if she smelled something bad and shook her head. “I have no need for such substance for centuries.” 

Emma grimaced, feeling like she insulted this demon-god-woman. It probably was not the best decision, especially considering how uncomfortable her parents still looked and Lilith had chased off the Blue Fairy. But, then she went back to her grilled cheese like all was right in the world. She even moaned when she took a bite, like this was the best thing she had ever tasted. Maybe if they kept her buried in grilled cheese sandwiches, she would never suck another soul.

“Now, this is what I’ve wanted for quite a while,” Lilith declared with a long sigh as she placed her sandwich back on the plate.

Henry’s forehead wrinkled and he leaned over a little toward Lilith. “What?” He looked like he did not want to miss her answer.

“Just sitting and sharing a meal with my granddaughter and her family,” Lilith replied.

“You could’ve come at any time, Nana,” Regina pointed out. There was a little edge in her voice. Maybe there was some bad blood. Emma leaned a little, not even realizing it, trying to put a little roadblock between Lilith and Regina. 

“You know that’s not true, filly. I actually very nearly made it through on Pan’s Curse, but you reversed the Curse before I could get through,” Lilith explained. 

“And Snow’s Curse?” Regina practically demanded.

“It was enacted in the Enchanted Forest. I’ll explain everything about that and that happened later. For now, can we just enjoy dinner? Catch me up on your lives?” Lilith requested, giving Regina, Henry, and Emma a smile. Emma was not sure what to make of it.

“You seem to know a lot about our lives, Nana,” Henry pointed out.

“Well, in Pandemonium, where I’m from, I’m able to watch different realms somewhat like a reality show. I’ve watched you…” Lilith reached over and caressed Henry’s cheek again. He accepted it. Maybe she fascinated him. Or maybe he was just happy to have even more family. “But, watching is not knowing. Seeing is not understanding.”

Henry and Regina did the heavy lifting in the conversation after that. Lilith looked like she hung on their every word. She turned to Emma every now and then, like she expected Emma to chime in, which was not hard to guess why. Regina and Henry spoke on things Emma was either a part of or knew about thanks to her false memories from Regina. Emma just was not sure what to add or say. She did not understand why Lilith paid her so much mind, especially since she was not nearly as hung up on Snow and David.

“Well, this was a lovely little meal, but I think we should all retire for the night. Regina, if you’d be so kind as to put an old woman up for the night,” Lilith commented. 

Regina smiled. “Well, it all depends upon who this old woman is you speak of.”

Delight danced in Lilith’s eyes. “Well, then. Emma if you could escort a couple of ladies and your son home.”

Emma was tempted to say, “well, it all depends upon the ladies you speak of,” but she did not know Lilith like that and did not want to chance getting turned into a toad. So, she shrugged, which Lilith must have taken as an affirmation because she smiled. Regina settled up the bill and they were about to be on their way when Emma’s parents stopped her.

“Emma, you have to be very careful,” Snow warned her in a low voice.

“Why?” Emma asked. Lilith seemed cool. She had been in town for almost an hour and had not tried to kill anyone or cast a spell, which put her ahead of a lot of villains.

“Emma,” Snow let out a long exhale and looked like someone walked over her grave. “Lilith is not like anyone or thing you’ve ever met before. She could kill us all with a wave of her hand. She’s not kidding when she said she’s a god.”

Despite dealing with all of this magic BS for the past three years, Emma could not really wrap her mind around “a god.” Lilith did not seem all that different from everyone else, beyond the fact that people were scared shitless of her anyway. But, then again, they were that way with Rumple when he was basking in his Dark One power. Yeah, this seemed dialed up to eleven, but how bad could it be? Unless she started sucking souls or something. 

“She’s not kidding, Emma. You can’t mess with Lilith. Watch yourself.” David gave her a stern point to top off his statement.

“Emma, come on!” Henry called, waving at her from the curb.

“I’ll be fine,” Emma tried to assure her parents before trotting off after that Millses. Well, she hoped she would be fine. _Nah, I’ll be okay. Besides, Regina and Henry got my back_.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Lilith explains her absence.


	2. Playing in the Shadows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters.
> 
> A/N: this story now has a beta, Sailor8t. Thanks for the help!

 

2: Playing in the Shadows 

Regina had to take a deep breath before she opened the door to let her nana into her house. There were nerves there, yes, but underneath and over and above there was burning and sorrow. How dare this woman just show up after so long? After she had gone to Hell and back, gone over the edge of sanity and back, and lost damn near every piece of herself. How dare her grandmother come back now as if everything was all right?

Well, relatively all right. Okay, better than it used to be. And, she was getting better. What if her nana did something to make the dam break and ruin her all over again?

Beyond all of that, there was the fact that Regina was actually happy to see her nana again, which was already almost too many emotions for her to properly handle. It was like being eight years old all over with her grandmother dragging her out to the stables, encouraging her to “play with the pretty ponies.” She almost grabbed her grandmother’s hand to pull her inside as they stepped into the lit mansion. Thankfully, she did not or her grandmother might have noticed her hands shaking slightly.

“Regina, your decor is a bit colorless, dear,” Lilith remarked on the black and white scheme as she looked around. Her mouth drew down a little, but it was not really a smile. A light in her eyes made it seem like she was happy.

“This is just the foyer, though,” Henry pointed out. Bless him, trying to be helpful.  
  
“I was going for a theme, Nana,” Regina replied, folding her arms across her chest.   
  
Lilith smiled a bit, like indulging a child. “Of course, dear.”

Forgetting herself for a moment, Regina sneered at her nana. Lilith had the nerve to look amused, but at least had the manners to hide a smile behind her hand. Of course, Henry and Emma saw this and chuckled to each other. Regina decided to press on before she had to ground everyone.

“Well, Nana, I do believe you owe us some explanations,” Regina said as coolly as she possibly could without ice falling from her mouth. Beyond why her Nana disappeared on her almost five decades ago, there was also the odd end of her wanting Emma to come along with them. Why was her nana so interested in Emma Swan? Maybe it had something to do with her being the Savior.

“That I do. Maybe over tea?” her nana asked with a hopeful smile, pressing her palms together, as if in prayer.

Sighing, Regina waved her hand toward the coffee table. Two cups of tea and two cups of cocoa with whipped cream and cinnamon appeared, all on polished coasters. They all made their way to the living room and sat. Regina and Emma sat on opposite ends of the couch with Henry in the middle. Lilith took the armchair, crossing her legs in a way that even Regina had to admit was regal.

“So, Nana, how come this is the first time I’m seeing you?” Henry asked, reaching for one of the cocoas. He bounced his leg, eager for information. Thankfully, the plush rug kept his tapping foot from making any sound.

“Yes, Nana,” Regina pressed, gently resting her hand on Henry’s knee to get his leg to stop moving. Once he settled, Regina took her own cup of tea, but did not touch it beyond that.

Henry took a huge gulp from his hot chocolate, just trusting Regina made it the right temperature. “Are you from the Enchanted Forest?” 

Lilith shook her head and then glanced down at her tea. “No. I am from another realm, but not the Enchanted Forest. It’s easy for me to travel there under the right conditions. I used to spend a great deal of time there with Regina.” She glanced at Regina. “And we’ll get to that in a moment.”

“I should hope so,” Regina muttered. She managed to hold any bite in her tone, not wanting to give away her pain. Maybe her nana was not worth the pain.

Lilith returned her focus to Henry. “To answer your first question, the reason this is the first time you’ve seen me is because for me to travel from one realm to another, there has to be plenty of magic in play. This realm doesn’t have much to spare, hence I cannot often travel here.”

“So, you used the Darkness as a way to get here?” Emma guessed. She had her own cocoa and a whipped cream mustache. Regina sighed, but smiled a little in spite of herself.

“Not to mention saved you from a fate worse than death,” Lilith replied. Then, she scoffed while rolling her eyes. “Putting the dagger into the Darkness. You do realize you would’ve been the next Dark One, yes? The Darkness would’ve merged with you.”

Emma nodded. “I know what I was doing.”

Regina wondered if that was true. Did Emma completely understand what she had done? If so, what did that mean? Of course, even if Emma did not know what could have happened, the whole situation was surreal. Emma certainly understood the danger she had put herself in, even if she did not know what it meant to become the Dark One, did not know she would have become the Dark One. What did her actions mean point blank? Why had Emma tried to save her and her happiness? 

“Of course you did, Miss Swan.” Lilith smiled behind her teacup.

Emma scowled and Regina did the same. “Nana,” Regina hissed. Her grandmother could not just make fun of the woman who saved her from a fate worse than death.

Lilith held her hands up in surrender and then busied herself with her tea for a moment. “Forgive me, filly. I quite understand that’s your thing.” She quirked an eyebrow for a second.

 _My thing? What is Nana trying to imply?_ “Nana, what are you doing here?” Regina narrowed her gaze. There was something here that she could not pin down and she had a feeling her nana was taking great joy in dancing around it.

“I would’ve thought that was obvious. I came to see you and your family,” Lilith answered, giving each of them a look, like she knew something they did not.

“Nana, you vanished a long time ago and now I’m supposed to believe you just wanted to see me? You had fifty years and then some to see me,” Regina pointed out.

“Do you believe I purposely vanished from you life?” Lilith countered and Regina gritted her teeth. Lilith’s expression fell and she put down her teacup. “Oh, no, filly. No. Never!” She reached over, taking Regina’s hand in hers. “Do you truly believe I would abandon you?”

“You just disappeared!” Regina wailed, fury and sorrow mingling in her tone, breaking it. The memory tore her in half, but she tried so hard to keep it together. She could not, would not break down right now. Her hand with her tea did not agree and shook like her whole arm had a tremor. She needed to put it down right now or she would ruin her clothes, not to mention shatter her good china. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t leave you on purpose. I would never.” Lilith sighed and gave her hand a squeeze. “I wanted so desperately to see you become a woman, to see what you would do with your life, and all of your grand accomplishments that I knew would come. I was foolish and underestimated that damned imp.”

Regina’s brow furrowed and made a fist with her free hand. “What does Rumple have to do with this?” _But, why should I be surprised? That damned imp’s fingerprints are all over everything everywhere_.  
  
“Come now, Regina, if I could’ve been with you, then I would’ve. Do you think I would have let that damned imp get any piece of you? Any piece of you?” Lilith demanded with fire in her eyes.  
  
Regina gulped. She had always wondered why her nana vanished from her life. Part of her — an itchy part she had done her best to ignore — always whispered her nana was disappointed and disgusted with her, like her grandmother knew she was something vile, tainted, and worthless. Had she offended her grandmother in some manner? She had always feared and tried to suppress the idea she was not good enough, not worthy to be her nana’s little filly.

It never helped that when she tried to banish those thoughts, she allowed her mother to enter her mind. She was never good enough for her mother, so why should she be good enough for her nana? After all, her nana was so much better than her mother and if her mother could hardly stand her, why should her grandmother want to be around her?  
  
“Then what happened?” Regina’s voice cracked again and there was nothing she could do about it. She missed her nana so much! “Why’d you leave me? Do you know how hard everything has been? Do you?” Her voice was loud now, booming even to her, but Lilith did not flinch. Maybe because it sounded more like she was sobbing than like she was furious.  
  
“Oh, Regina, love. I didn’t leave you,” Lilith cooed, pulling Regina over to her and into a hug. Regina clutched onto her nana and held her like she was everything because once upon a time she was. “I’m so sorry,” Lilith’s voice was whisper.  
  
“What happened?” Henry asked, putting his own cup down. He looked on the scene as if it was the most fascinating thing he had ever seen and it embarrassed Regina just a little. Henry should not see her breaking down, even if it was for her grandmother.  
  
Lilith sighed as Regina returned to her seat. “As I said, I underestimated the imp.” 

For a moment, Lilith frowned. Regina did the same. If she could, she would curse Rumpelstiltskin to the ends of the universe and back. Emma and Henry just stared at Lilith, obviously waiting for an explanation.

Lilith looked between Henry and Emma and gave them a small smile. “It’s hard to explain for people not from the Enchanted Forest, but I’ll do my best. I especially owe it to you, Regina.”

“So, what happened?” Emma pressed. Thankfully, she wiped her mouth of the damned whipped cream mustache.

“Rumpelstiltskin plotted his little crossover for a long time, but I wasn’t aware of it. I had no need to be aware of it. I never made it a point to keep up with any of the ‘Dark Ones.’ I didn’t know he had an interest in Regina until it was too late,” Lilith said.

“But, wasn’t he Mother’s teacher?” Regina asked. Her nana was a god, for crying out loud. She should have figured out Rumple was up to something when he was suddenly teaching Cora magic. How often did Dark Ones end up teaching Lilith’s offspring anything, after all?

“Yes, but I lost your mother to her ambition long before their paths crossed. I shoulder some of the blame for that, leaving her father when she was barely fourteen. I thought she’d come with me when I left, but she was very attached to her father at the time,” Lilith replied.

“So, you just left her?” Henry looked like he could not believe it. “Did she even know who you really were? Did she know what she really was?”

Lilith sighed. “Henry, those are all good questions. I know it might seem harsh to you, especially with the mother you’ve grown up with and the one who’s stepped into your life, but I’m a little different due to my nature.”

Henry’s forehead wrinkled. “What do you mean?”

“This story’s going to genuinely take forever at this rate.” Despite that statement, Lilith sounded light and a little cheery. “As I said before, I’m a demon or god, however you want to look at it. Unlike humans, we don’t really label things as good and bad. We’re typically selfish and almost always work toward our own goals. Once I grew bored of Cora’s father, I sought to move on. I offered her a chance to come, she declined and I left, feeling no better or worse than before. She was old enough to make her own decisions and fend for herself as far as I was concerned. No, she didn’t know who I truly was or her true nature. She never did, actually.”

“So, you abandoned Cora, but not Regina?” Emma openly scoffed.

“No, I gave Cora a choice and she chose her father over me. I understand she regretted that decision once she noticed her father’s love of the bottle. For Cora, I was nothing more than the pathetic housewife of a miller. She didn’t think I had a future. She saw more down the road with her father than with me. He ultimately disappointed her as well, but that’s just the way she was. I think, in the end, all people disappointed her in someway. I didn’t make contact with Cora again until…” Lilith leaned over and ran her hand down the side of Regina’s face.

Regina wanted to squirm away. Nana was being much too familiar after disappearing for so long, but too much of her craved this attention and only desired to soak up more of it. At this point, she could not even bother with being embarrassed.

“You were with Mom since she was born?” Henry asked.

“Oh, yes.” Nodding, the goddess gave a bright smile. “There was something about Regina that intrigued me, more so than her mother ever did. Maybe it was because Cora was so like me, I wasn’t interested much, but Regina was a different sort of creature. My bright little filly.” Lilith sat up a little taller. “Watching her use her magic without realizing it was always a delight. She was adorable.”

Regina squinted a little. “My magic?” Maybe her nana was finally going senile. She did not have magic until Rumple taught her. 

Her nana nodded. “Yes, Regina, your magic. You always had a way with animals, but your ability to control or tame even the wildest beast was due to the magic inside of you. It was always there and you used it without even knowing. And, that stupid, weasley little imp wanted it, _needed_ it. Rumple got me out of the way, so he could watch it grow and then taint it the blackest of black.”

“But, wouldn’t Mom’s magic already be dark if you’re a demon? I mean, she gets her magic from you, right?” Henry pointed out.

“Yes and no.” Lilith gave a little shrug. “Anyone can learn magic to a degree, doing potions and learning how to manipulate the energy around them, but the magic your mother uses is definitely inherited. It’s not dark just because I’m a demon because again, I’m actually a god, not a demon. Magic is about intent. In humans, when the intentions are selfish and harmful to others, it’s dark. Rumple needed to drive her to that point and beyond for his wretched curse because he needed someone with immense power to cast that curse.”

Henry’s face scrunched up. “He’s not powerful enough?”

Lilith laughed and waved the question off, as if it was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard.. “Ha! Regina has the potential to squash him thanks to my blood.”

This was actually news to Regina. She had never felt this immense power inside of her where she could crush Rumple, even when she cast the Curse or when she pulled out light magic inside of her to defeat Zelena. Somewhere inside of her, this so-called divine blood, her ichor, should have sparked, should have made her feel like… well, something. For her, she felt like her magic would always be linked to her emotions. This other thing her nana spoke of would never come out of hibernation, which Regina was fine with.

“But, what does that have to do with keeping you away?” Emma asked with a tilt of her head and a furrowed brow.

“Well, first, I never would’ve allowed Rumple near Regina while Cora saw fit to play fast and loose and damn near bargained the poor child away before she was even conceived,” Lilith answered.

Henry rubbed his forehead and leaned in closer, as if that would help him better understand this whole scenario. “But, he’s the Dark One. You couldn’t have stopped him anyway, right?”

Lilith laughed. “Dark One?” Scoffing, she rolled her eyes. “Again, I’m a god.”

“Yeah, but he’s the Dark One. Isn’t that this big scary thing? I mean, he’s like the devil or something, right?” Henry scrunched up his face and threw up his hands. Apparently, this made no sense to him. For some reason Regina was grateful for that, like he had not been totally sucked into the madness that was the Enchanted Forest completely, despite his life for the past couple of years. 

Lilith’s face twitched with a disdainful scowl for a brief moment and she waved the question off. “Rumple’s powers are merely a watered down version of my own. Several millennia ago, a foolish demon had his powers ripped from him by overly ambitious humans with the right spell book, but without the right amount of control, thus came the birth of imps.”

Henry’s face just scrunched more. “How?” 

“The magic bound itself to the humans, who didn’t have the best intentions and turned the magic dark. The imps then spent the better part of five centuries killing each other for all of the power they could tear from each other, like starving dogs on a carcass, until there was one and he who held the dagger held the power.”

“But, how did the power get into the dagger?” Henry’s shoulders were tense now. He seemed a little upset that this did not make sense to him.

“One of the imps used the dagger to steal the powers from others until all of the power ended up in the dagger. Of course, that fool didn’t count on another human learning how to control him with the dagger. The point being, if I so chose, I could end Rumple at this very moment.” Lilith snapped her finger as if to emphasis her point. 

“Well, he doesn’t have his powers, so yeah,” Henry pointed out, like the smartass he had a habit of being now.

It was probably a symptom of having both Regina and Emma as his parents. Her nana probably thought it was cute. Well, she hoped her nana thought it was cute because she knew if Lilith did not, she would not stand for sass and there would be a problem in the house. Regina did not want to have problems with her nana. 

Lilith smiled, so yes, she thought Henry was cute. “Fine, I could’ve ended him back when he first dared to corrupt Regina, but he had already banished me from the realm.”

Emma shook her head. “If you’re so much more powerful than him and this big goddess or whatever, how the hell did he banish you?”

“Emma,” Regina chided her for swearing in front of their son. Emma gave her a shrug as an apology, which would have to do. Eventually, they would have to sit down and have an actual conversation about parenting their son. 

“Every now and again, I must return to my home, Pandemonium. Rumple waited until then and cast wards and fetishes all over any portal I could’ve used to return to the Enchanted Forest. He then made sure to put up wards and fetishes any place I might be able to catch a ride on someone else’s magic. The wards and fetishes soaked up any trace of magic I could’ve used to come to the Enchanted Forest. He needed me gone, so he could eventually groom and use Regina.”

Regina scowled. That damned imp! She would flay him the next chance she got, Henry’s grandfather or not! He took the best thing in her life from her and for what? His ridiculous curse for a son who did not even want him? _Bastard!_

“Bastard,” Regina hissed aloud.

“Regina.” Emma tried to scowl at her, but looked way too amused. Regina glared at her, which only made Emma smile more. 

Henry squinted as he regarded Lilith. “Are you sure that’s what happened?”

“Very sure. He had to be rid of me, so all Regina had left was her father…” Lilith looked at Regina, who looked down at her hand and then had to swallow hard.

 _Daddy_ … Regina held in a whimper. Rumple had purposely stole her grandmother away, not just because Lilith would not have allowed him to go unchecked as he did, but also because he needed Regina to love only one person, one person she would be able to kill. After all, there was no human alive who could tear Lilith’s heart out of her chest.

“Bastard,” Regina could not help repeating. She made a fist, digging her nails into her palm. She nearly drew blood until she felt a hand on hers.

At first, she thought her grandmother had her hand, but when she looked down she saw it was Henry’s and Emma had her hand on his. They did not understand because they did not know what she did, what she had become, even if Henry had his damned storybook and Emma had been to the past. They only saw a snapshot of the gritty, dirty, and ugly that she become thanks to Rumple and her own despair.

“It’s okay, Mom,” Henry whispered.

“It _is_ all right, filly,” Lilith concurred. “We’re together and you’re picking up the pieces, putting yourself together. You’ve surrounded yourself with kind people, which is always a good thing.” A smile graced her features as she glanced down at the hands still covering Regina’s. “Now, it’s late. Maybe we should retire for the night.” 

“I guess that’s my cue to go home.” Emma gave Henry’s hand a squeeze… or maybe it was Regina’s.

Regina suspected the latter when Emma gave her a smile before standing. Regina ignored the fact that her heart sped up a little. Emma brushed her hands on her pants and then yawned, stretching her arms.

“Ridiculous, Emma. Regina has more than enough space for all of us and it’s late,” Lilith announced, motioning around the house. 

“Nana,” Regina said sharply. Her grandmother was playing at something, wanting Emma around for everything. Regina just was not sure what her grandmother was up to and she was not sure she wanted to find out. 

“It’s true, Regina. You wouldn’t want something to happen to your baby mama, would you?” Lilith gave her a teasing smirk.

“Nana!” Regina practically shrieked. _Why the hell does she even know things like that?_

Henry straight out guffawed, like he lacked all discipline and culture. Even Emma smiled a little, just encouraging Lilith even more. It did not help when Lilith climbed to her feet. 

“So, it’s settled,” Lilith declared.

“It most certainly is not,” Regina objected, on her feet now. 

“Regina, the woman was willing to soak up swirling evil for you. The least you can do is give her a comfortable bed for the night in a place she won’t have to worry about a screaming baby waking her up in the middle of the night,” Lilith said.

Regina flinched and then felt a little dizzy. _That’s right_. By the gods, Emma was about to sacrifice herself for Regina. Why? Just for Regina’s happiness? Regina did not buy that, but Emma was definitely ready to throw everything away for Regina. Regina could hardly wrap her mind around this, which was why she put it out of her head for a couple of minutes in favor of dealing with her grandmother. 

“It is late, so Emma, you may take one of the guest rooms,” Regina conceded, motioning to the stairs. Maybe in the morning, Emma would have a better explanation for why the hell she damn near became the Dark One for Regina. Or maybe in the morning this whole situation would at least somehow make sense. 

Emma’s eyes went wide, like she had not expected that, and for some reason this cut Regina. Had she not proven time and time again that she could take care of Emma? No, she did not like being told to do so like her grandmother had done, but she was there for Emma. They were a team, after all. Well… sometimes. _Damn it_. 

Sometimes was not good enough, not for this woman who had faced death and worse for her on too many occasions. Regina’s heart thumped as she thought about it. Maybe it was that Emma took care of her, not the other way around. She shook her head. This was too much to think about right before bed.

Lilith actually clapped once and then pressed her palms together. “Then, it’s settled now. I look forward to seeing you all in the morning.”

Her grandmother was gone in a puff of violet smoke before Regina had a chance to tell her which room was hers. As it turned out, her grandmother left the guest room closest to Regina’s room for Emma. Emma squinted at the door, possibly feeling like something was up. She was not the only one if that was the case.

“So… your grandmother’s cool, right? I mean, I don’t hafta to sleep with one eye open or stand guard at Henry’s door, right?” Emma inquired, giving Henry’s closed door a glance.

Regina waved her off. “My nana is not my mother. She adores Henry. He’s fine.” In fact, she suspected if her grandmother stuck around, then Henry would be spoiled well beyond what he already was. 

Emma glanced away and stuck her hands in her jean pockets. She toed the floor and actually looked cute. The thought practically slapped Regina. _Okay, I must need sleep_.

“And us?” Emma asked in a voice so low Regina barely heard her.

Regina felt like that was a strange thing to ask and it took her a moment to catch on. Of course they were safe from her nana. “From tonight?”

“Yeah, from tonight.”

Regina sighed. She was not sure if she would describe them as “cool.” She was not sure what they were. This was beyond them, but not really. It felt like it was par for the course, but there was some current just underneath. It also felt normal, but buried. It was just too much to contemplate tonight.

“It’s been a rough go. Let’s reexamine this in the morning,” Regina decided.

Emma’s face fell. “So, not cool?”

“I’m not saying we’re going back to the way we were, Emma. This was just a long night…” Regina sighed. Her nana showing up, while a great surprise, did not make the night any less long. She felt so exhausted. Not to mention, according to Henry, she had died in the alternate story book a few hours ago. She needed sleep. After some rest, surely she could take a breath and figure out… well, everything.

Emma nodded. “Okay.” She glanced away, seeming a bit awkward.

“Goodnight, Emma.” Regina turned and headed into her room, despite wanting to just stand there with Emma. But, this really was too much for one night. Hopefully, this would be easier to deal with in the morning.

Regina practically fell in the bed the moment she could and she was asleep before she realized it. Her dreams were full of images, some she remembered and others she could just _feel_ happened. She could see herself dead in the Enchanted Forest, Emma and Henry by her side, not letting her die alone. There was a jump back to Emma returning to her in the mine, containing the failsafe with her. The last thing, though, shocked her awake. Emma jabbing that dagger into the Darkness before it could consume her woke Regina with a gasp.

Regina sprang up in bed and wiped her forehead, finding it was covered with sweat. Her dark, soft sheets stuck to her body. Her heart pounded and for a moment longer than she liked, she felt strangled by the night. Taking a deep breath, her eyes fell to the wall that she actually shared with Emma. Emma was right there. Everything would be fine because Emma was right there.

“Why does that settle me so?” Regina asked the air. Of course, it had no answers. Then, she felt a small jolt go down her spine. _Nana, is this your doing? What’s going on?_

Instead of letting her thoughts plague her, Regina settled back onto the bed. She turned onto her side, staring at the wall that held Emma right on the other side. Sleep came easy and the nightmares did not return.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Henry and Lilith pal around town while Emma and Regina are forced to talk things out thanks to Lilith.


	3. Shot in the Dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters, except for Lilith.

3: Shot in the Dark 

In the morning, Regina found herself awake first and in serious need of coffee, not only to fully wake her up, but to prepare her for her talk with Emma. Honestly, not even her best brew could prepare her for this. It felt like they never talked. There was always some new crisis set before them that prevented them from speaking on almost anything. And maybe things were better that way. What if discussing matters only made them worse? They both knew things in life generally got worse, after all. Maybe nothing on Earth could prepare her for this, so she quickly tried to come up with feasible excuses to avoid this matter.

Once Regina had her excuses in her head, she proceeded to make breakfast. Cooking always had a soothing effect on her. It was like doing magic, but always productive. There was no good or evil cooking, no light or dark cooking… unless it had to do with poultry anyway.

It was also a good way to keep her hands busy and occupied just enough of her brain to force her to pay attention to it rather than think about other, less desirable items. So, by the time she heard footsteps on the stairs, she was rather ready to face the day. Until she turned around and faced Emma.

“Emma…” Regina gasped. Her heart jumped into her throat and made it impossible to speak. _Since when is she such an early riser?_

Emma did not even attempt to respond. She grunted, acknowledging Regina’s presence. She needed coffee. Regina found herself pouring Emma a cup without thinking. Emma shuffled to the table where breakfast awaited her, and the others whenever they made their way downstairs. With luck, Regina could make an escape with her nana and Henry before Emma remembered their brief interaction last night.

Emma was dressed already and Regina wondered if Emma slept in her clothes. There were not the wrinkles she would expect, but she was not sure if Emma had enough control of her powers to materialize things, like garments. She decided not to ask and thankfully distractions showed up before her curiosity got the better of her.

Henry and Lilith made their way down at the same time. They were already dressed, which Regina did not have to wonder about. They spoke in low tones, but stopped once they hit the dining room. _They’re plotting_.

Henry went for coffee. “Nana, you should try some. It’s hazelnut.”

Smiling, Lilith shook her head and went for the carafe on the table. “No, no, no. I want to try orange juice.”

Regina had a feeling her grandmother would be sampling any and all food stuffs while she was in this realm. She found herself quite right as her grandmother took two waffles, more scrambled eggs than Henry, and several pieces of sausage. She understood that, having done her own bit of sampling when she first arrived.

“The food certainly has improved here since I was last here,” Lilith said as Henry saddled up next to her.

“When were you last here?” Henry asked as he smeared peanut butter on his waffles. This was something he had done since he was a toddler.

Nana put a finger to her chin. “Hmm… I think it had to be about five hundred years. There’s really nothing over here for me until now. Before you all, there were just adorable men and delicious souls.”

Henry made a face. “Gross, Nana. You’re too old to be talking about men. That’s like my moms talking about men.”

“Hey!” Regina and Emma objected. Well, Emma more groused. The coffee had not hit her yet, but she seemed to be more interested in inhaling the smell than drinking it for some reason. Henry and Lilith just shared a laugh before Henry turned his attention to Nana’s food.

“You have to put syrup on all of it.” Henry took it upon himself to cover everything on Lilith’s plate in syrup. This had to be a habit he picked up when he was with Emma as Regina would have never allowed him to do such a thing. Yet, she said nothing as she watched him drown his food in syrup, too. She just hoped the syrup and the peanut butter did not ruin his stomach.

Lilith just watched Henry work. Once he pulled back and her food was sufficiently drowned, she jumped into everything. Her nana still managed to hold a knife and fork like… well, a goddess, which was something Regina noticed at a young age. Maybe her mother never knew exactly what Lilith was, but maybe something in her blood stirred that let her know she should have been more than a miller’s daughter. Of course, Regina would never know.

“This isn’t syrup,” Lilith commented as she bit into her food. “Whatever it is, it’s delicious, but I’ve had syrup before and it’s nothing like this.”

“Mom’s a great cook,” Henry stated, puffing out his chest and stuffing his mouth at the same time.

“I’ve watched her over the years and can’t wait to try everything with all of you,” Lilith said.

“Sounds like you’re planning an extended stay, Nana.” This pleased Regina. Spending time with her grandmother and son was like some wonderful dream. _Is something going to come and take this away?_ It was hard to imagine something taking her nana away, but it had happened before.

“Oh, yes. I want to be a part of this darling family. I know I can’t make up for lost time, but I’m here now and I want to be involved,” Lilith answered. She ate a little more of her food. “In fact, I’m going to spend some time with my great-grandson today. He’s agreed to show me around right after breakfast.”

Regina thought this might have been what Henry and Lilith were discussing when they came into the dining room, but when she turned to Henry, he looked a little surprised by this revelation. Okay, so Nana was up to something. Regina was not sure what, though.

Henry suddenly grinned and licked syrup and peanut butter from the corner of his mouth. “Oh, sure. I’d love to show you around, Nana.”

“Nana, please, try not to use magic while you’re out,” Regina said. Her nana might have just used magic on Henry, or he smelled an adventure and wanted to jump on it. Either way, this probably was not going anywhere good.

Lilith’s brow furrowed a little as she thought on this. “I shouldn’t need to.” Pausing, she sampled her sausages. “Henry will keep a good eye on me, right?” She smiled at the boy.

“I got this, Mom,” Henry said with more confidence than was appropriate. He definitely smelled an adventure.

“I should come with you,” Regina volunteered. It would be nice to spend time with her son and grandmother and she could definitely keep a better rein on her nana than Henry could. Henry would probably happily get involved in whatever mess Lilith had schemed up.

“No, no, no. I want to bond with Henry alone for the morning at least,” Lilith insisted. “You and Emma can meet us for lunch.”

Regina frowned. “Me and Emma?” _No, I don’t want to spend any time with Emma or we’ll actually have to interact_. They would have to talk and she was not sure what to say. She was not sure she wanted to hear what Emma had to say. This was all too much, too weird.

Nodding, Lilith made a hand gesture toward them. “Yes. I imagine you two have a lot you need to discuss anyway. So, while you do that, Henry and I can keep each other occupied.”

Regina tried her best to object, but Henry and Lilith were done and out the door before she could even make herself a proper plate. Poor Emma was still sitting there, clearly not quite fathoming what happened, if her facial expression meant anything. It was painful to see how much she took after David when she had no idea what was going on, staring into her coffee mug with a wrinkled forehead as if it held the secrets of the universe.

That thought made Regina want to run for the door. If she stayed here, she and Emma would have to talk. Emma was getting more and more coherent by the second as she sipped her coffee and Regina was not ready for this. So, she tried to escape.

“I should really see where Henry plans to take Nana,” Regina said, rushing to the door. She went to pull it open only to find it was sealed shut. Yanking as hard as she could yielded no results. “Damn it, Nana!” she huffed, glaring at the door as if it were her grandmother.

“What’s the problem?” Emma asked, striding over, looking more like herself now that she had caffeine in her veins.

“Nana locked us in,” Regina growled, slapping her palm against the door. The sound echoed through the house, but the door did not budge.

Emma’s face scrunched up. “What? Why?”

“Why indeed.” Regina ground her teeth together. By the gods, Nana wanted them to talk. Well, it would be a cold day in Hell when she did something before she was ready to.

“What the hell, Regina? I thought you said your grandmother was cool!” Emma glared at her. She then rushed to the door and tried to force it open with her shoulder, to no avail.

“She is.” Regina massaged her temple. Her nana was “cool” and also a busybody apparently.

“Then why the hell did she lock us in here? What the hell is she going to do with our son?” Emma shrieked, punching the door for good measure. Again, the sound bounced around the house, but the door stood firm.

Regina glowered at the petulant Savior. “Calm down! She won’t hurt Henry.”

“Calm down? How the hell am I supposed to calm down when a demon woman is strolling around town with our son? She could be using him as bait for my mother to avenge Cora’s death as we speak!” Emma threw her hands up and let loose a long, frustrated bellow.

Regina growled and stared Emma down. “She isn’t like that. She considers your mother family, which is why she sat down to dinner with her last night. Family means something to my nana.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Oh, yeah, that’s why she abandoned Cora, huh? At least we know Cora got that behavior honestly!”

A loud cracking noise echoed through the empty mansion. The slap was unexpected, for both of them. Barely a second later, Emma’s cheek was already red. As the beginnings of a bruise eyed her, Regina regretted her lack of impulse control. _Isn’t this one of the many things that always ruins me?_ But, what was she supposed to do? Emma insulted her grandmother and dead mother in the same breath.

“Emma…” Regina whispered. An apology burned her tongue, but had no idea how to escape. “My nana… she is not my mother…” She swallowed down pain so big and heavy it hurt her throat.

Emma’s jaw tensed. “I’ll go call for help.” She turned and fled the scene before Regina could say anything else.

“Damn it,” Regina hissed again, putting a hand to her forehead. Now, not only would they have to discuss last night, but deal with this step back. Damn it indeed. “Emma!” She chased after her. Maybe she did not know what to say, but she could not just stand there. “Emma!”

Emma refused to face her and Regina felt like there was acid in her bones. One night Emma was saving her from flying evil/death and then the next morning she was slapping Emma? This was not how this was supposed to go. _Maybe we do need to talk_. They needed to do something before she made things worse.

“I’m sorry.” The words came out on their own, like a language she could suddenly speak, even though she had never heard it.

Emma did not turn around and Regina felt even worse, like the acid in her bones was now eating at her muscles and burning down to her soul. If she still had a soul anyway. _What kind of monster am I? Of course, how could I not be a monster? I’m Rumple’s student, Cora’s daughter, and the mother of all demons is my grandmother. Of course it’s only a matter of time before I snap and bite as always and devour any and all that care for me_.

Sighing, Regina collapsed on the couch. She would always be this _thing_ , just as her mother had been. A sob echoed through the house and it was not until Emma was in front of her, looking down at her with troubled eyes, that Regina realized it came from her.

“Regina, what’s wrong?” Emma asked, her face still scarlet and undoubtedly stinging.

Taking a deep breath, Regina ran her hands through her hair, still feeling like she crumpled in on herself. “This will be just like when Mother showed up. I’ll turn right back into the person I was, one who hurts you, who pushes Henry away, and who destroys any chance at happiness I could possibly have. I’ll always be this person who can’t help but kill everything around her.”

“No, no, no.” Emma kneeled before her and held her hands with a strong, supportive grip, like she would never let go. And, knowing Emma, this might have been the case. “You’re not like that anymore.”

She could not help giving Emma a deadpan expression. “The mark on your cheek says otherwise, dear.”

Emma shook her head. “No, I was out of line. I don’t know your grandmother. I’m just worried. I mean, why the hell did she lock us in here?”

A lie was on the tip of Regina’s tongue, but it was hard to say “I don’t know” with those hazel eyes staring at her, imploring her for answers. “She wants us to talk.”

Her nana had pushed Emma in her face all night last night and today. Obviously, she thought they had things to clear the air about, which was true. _Damn it_.

Emma swallowed so hard that Regina heard it. And while Emma’s eyes remained locked on her, they seemed to waver just a bit. The air in the room felt so heavy and stiff.

“You know… we really should,” Emma whispered. 

“I know.” They never talked, not really. About anything and they had been through so much in a short period of time, but they never discussed any of it. Things would certainly get messy if they did.

Emma moved to sit next to Regina. She did not let go of Regina’s hands. The grip kept Regina grounded, but still made her feel like she had floated off somewhere. This was too much, but now she had to deal with it. She had to deal with it or Emma would drift away and that thought terrified her more watching Emma stick that damned dagger into pulsing Darkness.

“What exactly does your grandmother want us to talk about? My idiocy last night?” Emma forced out a laugh and it sounded more awkward than Regina felt. The little smirk Emma followed it with did not help. “I don’t think it’s any of her damn business. I’m my own idiot, right?”

Regina forced out her own awkward smirk. “Apparently, my nana has made it her business.” She gulped. “About last night… why?” Her voice cracked and her stomach flipped. She was not sure why, but it seemed like so much… much more than Regina felt like she deserved.

Emma just gave her a look. “Come on, Regina. Isn’t that what we do? Isn’t that what _I_ do?”

It was. Yes, they saved each other, but Emma definitely had more tally marks in the “saves Regina” column than any other soul on Earth, no matter what realm. It was like a tug-of-war between them, a back-and-forth they pretended not to notice. It still begged the question of “why”? How did whatever this was between them start and why did it continue?

“And, while I got your back, you’re there for everyone else. I save you and then boom, you solve the problem, right?” Emma gave her a lopsided smile.

Those words set Regina at easy slightly, but she knew it was not true. “I solve the problem? I caused the problems.” Because she was a monster.

“You didn’t cause Pan, but you got shit done. You didn’t cause Zelena, but again, you got shit done. Hell, you got the chernobog done. And, while yeah, I’ve stepped in front of Darkness for you, and stopped a mob after you, and pulled you out of a burning building, you did me the ultimate good.”

Regina looked at Emma like she was mad because obviously she was. She might have to move Emma in with Jefferson, that was how mad she clearly was. Regina had done the ultimate good? In what bizarro world had that happened?

“Did you hit your head last night?” Regina opted to ask. It would explain the strange thoughts Emma had and her revisionist history.

Smiling, Emma shook her head slightly. “Regina, you gave me Henry. You trusted me with the most precious thing in your life and then you gave me these amazing memories with him. So much so, it was hard for me to separate reality from fiction when I got my real memories back. Hell, sometimes, I want to cling to the memories you gave me and I wish it was reality. It was…” She just made a noise, like there were no words to describe it and really there were not.

Regina knew what it was like to raise Henry, after all. She knew the memories Emma clutched like a lifeline, wishing they were true. She wished they were still reality, too.

“You wanted to leave after that,” Regina pointed out. If she had done Emma this amazing kindness, why had Emma tried to leave her and take the most precious thing in their lives with her? Why had Emma openly ripped her heart out?

Emma gave her hand a tight squeeze. “Yes, because the life you gave us was amaze-balls!”

Regina blinked a few times. “Amaze-balls?” This was new and childish, even for Emma.

A light laugh escaped Emma and the couch groaned a little as she shifted in excitement. “I couldn’t think of another way to put it. Yeah, the magic and villains and bullshit is annoying, but beyond that, we were normal and happy in New York. But, you know, once I stopped and thought about it, I realized something was missing.”

“Missing?” Regina could not imagine what was missing. Beyond all of her best memories, she had given Emma access to one of her many “get-away” accounts, which included access to a safe house in New York and more than enough money to live comfortably.

“You were missing.” Emma moved closer. “One of the things I like about Storybrooke is that I don’t get a lot of time to stop and think. I get to react. Something happens and I gotta stop it, with your help most of the time. But, in New York, there were these quiet moments and in that, I could feel something was missing. The memories didn’t help.”

Regina scowled. “Those were my best…”

“I get that. I also get they were _your_ memories. God, Regina, you gave me your memories, these amazing memories, but there were times when I could feel you in them. I mean, I was still there, but there was a shadow of you and sometimes it left me longing…” Emma suddenly clammed up and got tense.

Before Regina could question what Emma was about to say, there was a knock at the door. At first, Regina thought Lilith had returned to free them, but then she realized Henry and her grandmother would have just come in. No, this was something else.

“Uh… so, I kinda called my parents before you apologized,” Emma said with a sheepish look.

“Of course you did,” Regina deadpanned. Because it was just that type of morning. 

-8-8-8-8-

“So, Nana, where are we off to?” Henry asked as they strolled down the street. He noticed people crossing when they saw them approaching. He could not understand why people were so scared of Lilith. Okay, yeah, she was a demon, but she had not done anything awful yet.

So far, Henry liked his great-grandmother. She reminded him a lot of his mom, in a good way. She was poised and graceful. Plus, she looked at him like he hung the moon in the sky and she had not even seen him when he was a cuddly baby like Mom.

“Well, I have one other family member to visit,” Lilith replied, staring ahead of them, taking in the sights.

“One other family member?” Henry scratched his forehead. He was not sure who that could be.

“Your aunt.”

He frowned. “Is that why you left Mom behind?”

“No, I left your mothers behind because they have things to discuss and I’m tired of them putting it off. There’s only so much one can take from the sidelines,” Lilith shuddered.

His brow wrinkled. “What do you mean?”

“Hopefully you’ll see when we get back. It should all work out… unless they’re more resourceful and even bigger avoiders than I gave them credit for. For now, we have a full day on our hands. I want to see Zelena, then your grandfather, and then your grandmother to see if she’ll let me meet the baby.”

“Why my grandfather and then my grandmother? They’ll probably be together,” Henry pointed out.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Lilith gave him a little smile. “Your grandfather Rumple and then Mary Margaret… or does she go by Snow more often now? I should’ve asked.” With a slight frown, she shook her head like she was honestly upset she did not know how to address Snow.

“Why do you need to see Rumple?” Henry did not like that. If Lilith was as powerful as she claimed and felt like Rumple had wronged her or Regina, things could get messy. Plus, what if she really did want revenge for Cora? Then Snow could be in trouble, too. Hell, what if she freed Zelena? “Maybe Mom should’ve come,” he realized.

“Your mothers have better things to do than babysit us, Henry,” she declared, putting an arm around his shoulder.

He glanced at her arm and then he studied her closely. “You’re not going to… do anything, right?”

She smiled and her eyes kind of sparkled. He could not help wondering if it was magic or just her personality. “And have your mother scold me for acting inappropriately in front of you? No. I know you’ve seen many things in your short life, but I refuse to add to it. Now, come along, Peanut.”

“Peanut?” Somehow, he knew just like that this was his eternal nickname with his great-grandmother.

“You put peanut butter on your waffles, even with the syrup. You’re now my peanut.” And she gave him that smile. It was a strange smile, a little tight-lipped, but not unkind. It looked nothing like Regina when she smiled, but still reminded him of her and this comforted him.

“You know Zelena tried to steal Mom’s soul-mate, right?” Henry asked.

She waved the question off. “I know Zelena has done many foolish things. I’m hoping I can help her see the error of her ways. Besides, she has another great-grandchild waiting for me. I’ve despaired over missing too many childhoods.”

Henry regarded her for a moment with a narrowed gaze. “Have you?” After all, she was a demon. Was family really important to her?

“I have. First off, Peanut, you’re Regina’s son, so I’ve watched you and wanted to know you from the first day.”

“You really love Mom, huh?”

Lilith sighed. “My little filly… my heart be still.” She put her hand to her chest. “She was like no relative I ever had, even in her madness. She captured my heart as you captured hers.”

He nodded in understanding. “She can’t do any wrong in your eyes, huh?”

“Well, my morals are a little looser than yours, but no, not really. I’d like to see if Zelena can worm her way into my heart.” 

Henry nodded again, but he doubted Zelena could work that sort of magic. Zelena was wacky on a good day, after all. Not to mention, Zelena hated Regina, who Lilith just admitted to be totally about, so Henry did not see how it work out. But, then again, Lilith stopped Emma from turning into the Dark One, so maybe she had other miracles up her sleeves.

“So… is Storybrooke everything you thought it would be?” Henry asked as they continued on to the hospital.

Lilith looked around. “It’s quaint. I’m not sure I’d pick this place for Regina if she were just living in this realm, but it’s fine.”

“Did you watch her create the town?”

“Well, it was more the Curse that created the town. After all, Regina had never been here, so she didn’t know how a town should be set up in this world.”

Henry nodded. He never thought about that. “Did the Curse give everyone their lives, too?”

“It was more a combination of the Curse and the Caster’s wishes. So, the Curse uses the Caster’s emotions and desires when putting together the town.”

“You know, in all the time I thought something was weird about this place, I never really thought about how it got set up.” He looked around and felt like he could see the bones of the town come together.

She shrugged. “I don’t think most children look at the world and wonder how it was set up. You might wonder how things get made, but not so much how something so big is put together.”

He gave her a sidelong glance. “Do you always leave your kids at fourteen?” 

She laughed. “Wow. Where that come from?”

“Well, because you seem really patient and understanding with me, like you’re a good mom, but then you left Cora,” he explained.

Lilith stared ahead and sighed a little. “For me, it depends on the child. It’s been a very long time since I’ve stayed with a child until adulthood. Some of the longer lived ones might come back to me and over time we might become friends, but it’s rare.”

“That doesn’t make you sad?”

She shrugged. “Well, not really. I don’t expect you to understand, Henry.”

Letting out a long breath through his nose, he studied her for a moment. “Then why are you sad you missed me and Mom grow up? Why are you sad you haven’t met Zelena?”

“I wouldn’t call it sad, really. I can be disappointed in things, but I don’t feel sorrow in the same way you do.”

“Because you’re a demon.”

“God.”

“Whatever.” For the moment, he would call her a demon. After all, that was what the Internet said she was and she even used that word.

“Well, do you expect everyone and thing feels emotions in the same way you do?” she inquired.

“I dunno. I never really thought about it.”

Giving him a small smile, she turned her attention to around the town. “I don’t expect you to understand me any more than I completely understand you. One of the fascinating things about you is that I don’t fully understand you or even your mothers. Maybe as I get to know you all, you’ll make perfect sense to me, but even if you don’t, I’d like to think I’ll still love you.”

Henry nodded, but was not quite sure what to make of that. He was not sure what to make of Lilith, but he liked her. Maybe he should just get to know her and give her time, like she said. He might be able to understand her, but even if he did not, he liked to think he would still like her.

When they got to Zelena’s cell, Henry had to wonder if his great-grandmother knew Jedi mind-tricks or something because his mom’s “guard nurse” had not even stepped in their way. Or maybe Lilith’s reputation just proceeded her. Surely after last night everyone was talking about her being around and how she punk’d the Blue Fairy.

“Nana, if you don’t mind, I’d rather just stand out here while you talk to her.” Henry was not comfortable with Zelena, and not just because she tried to kill him. More because she did not show any remorse for trying to kill him, or other members of his family.

Lilith reached out, running her hand through his hair and down his cheek. “I understand, Peanut. I’d rather my first meeting with her be alone anyway. There’s no telling how she might react and I don’t want you in danger. How about you go and find something to occupy yourself. I’ll meet up with you when I’m done.”

“You’ll be able to find me?” he asked.

“With no problem, so go ahead and find something to occupy your time.”

Henry nodded. He liked that plan more than him just standing there waiting for Lilith or worrying about what Zelena might do. So, he went about his business and Lilith went into the belly of the beast. 

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Zelena makes an appearance while Regina and Emma try to work how to get out of the house.


	4. Green Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters, except for Lilith.

4: Green Light

“Your parents are going to start our feud all over again when they see your face,” Regina sighed. She pressed her hand to her forehead and leaned on the arm of the couch.

Emma rubbed her cheek, which was still stung a bit. Regina had a good arm on her. Emma was actually a proud of it, as weird as that might seem. She tried to heal the forming bruise, but their magic was not working. That was probably Lilith’s working, another way to keep them from leaving the house.

“It’s not that bad and I was over the line,” Emma admitted. “But, at least we’ll get out of here.” It seemed like a good idea for her, especially since it saved them from going further into this conversation. They talked. Lilith should be happy. They could go back to normal now. _Normal is good_.

Regina did not look so sure about that. Maybe it was just because she was about to be saved by Prince Charming and Snow White. Sure, it was not a real save, but enough to rub one of Regina’s constantly raw nerves. It could not be because Regina wanted to continue to have this conversation.

Emma rushed to the door, hoping to greet her parents as they entered. Unfortunately, she could already hear David grunting, trying to pull the door open and obviously failing. But, of course, why should she expect it to be that easy? If they could not get out, why should other people be able to come in?

“Emma, are you okay?” Snow called from the other side of the door.

“Yeah, me and Regina are fine. We’re just kinda trapped,” Emma replied as Regina joined her by the door.

“What happened? I can’t get the door open!” David grunted.

“Well, he’s as sharp as ever,” Regina muttered, shaking her head.

Emma looked at Regina to see if she should tell the truth or not. Regina shrugged. Emma was not sure what that meant, but took it as a sign to spill the beans.

“Regina’s nana used magic on the house or something and now we can’t get out,” Emma informed them.

“Oh, my god! Regina, is Lilith coming after us?” Snow asked in a panic.

“No, this is her version of therapy,” Regina grumbled, folding her arms across her chest.

“Regina thinks her grandmother was just messing around, but still we need to get out of here. Can you help us?” Emma inquired.

“Oh, just go find Nana and she’ll let us out!” Regina huffed. That made sense.

“Will she?” Snow asked.

“Yes! Just tell her this isn’t funny and come let us out. She has Henry with her and she won’t play too many games with him around, especially with his mothers,” Regina explained. Okay, that also made sense, if Regina’s grandmother was everything she believed her to be anyway.

“Henry!” Snow squeaked.

“We’ll be right back!” David called.

“They’re going to blow this whole thing out of proportion and piss your grandmother off, aren’t they?” Emma asked, rubbing her temples. Then, Lilith would… eat Storybrooke or something. That was just the type of thing that would start off a normal day around here.

Regina shrugged as if she was bored with it all. “Only if they manage to find her and since we both know they can only find each other, it might be all right.”

Emma could only hope that was the case. Regina did not stick around to explain. She went to the kitchen to wash the dishes. Emma joined her, drying without being asked. A ping went through Emma’s heart and she grimaced.

“Are you all right?” Regina asked, noticing the look of pain on Emma’s face.

“Fine. It’s just…” No, she could not tell Regina. It would make things weird. But, this was nice and domestic. It used to haunt her back in New York. She would do simple things and feel this phantom with her, which caused an ache in what she believed was her soul. Now, she knew the phantom was the memory of Regina. But, she wondered if she was haunted because of the false memories or because she missed Regina so much that it came out in the form of this ghost?

“You should eat. All you did was down your coffee and then Nana threw us into this mess,” Regina stated.

Emma sighed, but she did not argue. She was hungry and stressed and food was always a comfort. Besides, who turned down homemade waffles? Idiots, that was who, and despite what Regina thought, she was no idiot. So, she made herself a plate, inhaling whatever smell was still there. Her stomach rumbled from the slight aroma.

“This wasn’t in my memories,” Emma found herself saying as she sat down to her waffles. She stared at them for a while, feeling slightly confused and maybe even a little bothered. Why had Regina kept this? It did not seem so precious, not compared to all of the amazing memories of Henry and other, more exotic meals.

“Excuse me?” Regina replied.

“Making waffles. It wasn’t in my memories. I had a pretty big index of recipes suddenly when I got to New York, but not this,” Emma said.

“I had to work fast and you really don’t need to know how to make waffles if you know how to make pancakes. It’s similar and Henry would want pancakes more often than waffles anyway,” Regina pointed out.

Emma nodded. Okay, so it was not some big conspiracy and Emma was a little happy Regina kept the waffles. She should have something that was just for herself. For some reason her heart fluttered just a bit.

“You gave so much of yourself to me,” Emma murmured. So much so that thinking about it made her chest hurt a little and made her heart beat in an irregular manner.

“You needed to be able to take care of Henry,” Regina replied. Her voice was suddenly softer and the movement of the dishes stopped, leaving only the sound of running water.

“You gave me things I didn’t need to take care of him, things I never thought I’d be able to see. You gave me his first words, his first steps… his first day of school…” Emma’s voice cracked and she sniffled. She could save Regina a million times over and it would never match those memories. Her arms now knew what it was like to cradle baby Henry. Sure, they were not her feelings at first, but now, she could take away from it and make something of her own. No, she knew she was not there, but she understood the experience. It gave her something she would never be able to explain, but valued beyond everything except Henry.

Regina sighed and turned to her. “Emma.”

“You gave me everything,” Emma sniffled again and rubbed her eye, even though she doubted she would cry. “ _Everything_.” 

Regina’s own eyes watered and she opened her mouth, like she wanted to say something, but nothing came out. Emma did not need words anyway. Standing, she rushed over to Regina and swept her into a hug. This woman had given her everything and she could not fathom why. It just struck her deep down in places she had no idea existed. Either way, it felt so right to have Regina in her arms, hold her close, and maybe never let go.

“Swan!” Hook’s voice called out as a demanding knock echoed from the door. She and Regina practically jumped apart. “Swan, are you okay in there? I won’t let some bloody demon wench hurt you!” he called out.

Regina frowned. “Of course the pirate would come calling.” She slid away from Emma and Emma mourned the loss immediately. Something told her Lilith had purposely locked them in here for more than just a talk about last night now. 

-8-8-8-8-

“Who are you?” Zelena demanded as soon as Lilith stepped foot in her cell.

Zelena rose from her bed and retreated to the far wall, watching Lilith closely. Lilith stood by the door, not wanting to spook Zelena any more than she had. Even with the maximum amount of space between them afforded by the room, Lilith could feel Zelena’s panic and tentative hold on reality. Of course, it had be quite easy to go insane in a tiny, bland room with no one to talk to and only a bed for company. 

Lilith took in her granddaughter, not quite sure what to make of her. She could feel the envy hurtling through her veins in the same way wrath had blazed in Regina during her years as the Evil Queen. Even poor Henry drank pride in like water, needing to be right even when he was not.

Dark days lined her family when they embraced their own seven deadly sins, she noted. Perhaps they could be saved from themselves… or at least learn to manage their sins better. After all, gods were the most selfish creatures in existence and danced in their sins, yet still managed to have some sort of healthy interaction with others.

Well, at least Henry could be trusted to socialize with the outside world, but he blew apart the most important relationships he had just like his dear mother. Zelena did not even give what should be precious relationships a chance. None of this would do.

“I’m a great many things. Let’s start with the first one. My name is Lilith and I’m Regina’s grandmother,” Lilith stated calmly.

Zelena scowled. “Here as some sort of revenge.” She let out this awkward laugh and made a meaningless hand gesture, but her hands ultimately went to her stomach.

Lilith waved the statement off, troubled that it was not even a question. Life had taught Zelena to expect the worst. Yes, she dug herself into a mess, but she put on this air of winning when it seemed deep down, she expected nothing of the sort. It was the same sort of despair Regina carried around like an invisible stone.

“Nothing of the sort. I’m here to get to know you as I am also your grandmother. It wouldn’t do to know one granddaughter and not the other,” Lilith explained.

Zelena scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Oh, and I assume you’ve fawned over Regina for all of her days.”

She could not help the smile that settled on her face, even though inside she felt a little ping. It hurt to have missed so much of Regina’s life. “Well, yes, I adore my little filly. But, I’d like the chance to adore you as well. Something to think about it.”

Zelena bared her teeth, but her hands never left her stomach. “Why? So you can let me know how wrong I am for hurting her and make me feel small?”

“I think you do a perfectly good job of that yourself.”

Zelena snorted and gave her a hard glare. “If you want to get to know me so damned much, where were you when our mother was throwing me away?”

“Alas, I was in another realm at the time. Your birth unfortunately was not heralded like Regina’s for me to find out in time enough to keep Cora from doing something foolish. Of course, apparently, it’s virtually impossible to keep Cora from doing something foolish,” Lilith commented, rolling her eyes. Pride truly was the downfall of some of the most powerful.

Again, Zelena bared her teeth. “Oh, poor me,” she hissed.

“Yes, well, I’ve only come to make introductions and leave you something to think on. I’ll return tomorrow to find out your answer. Now, I know you’re envious of Regina. You think she got everything. But, has it never occurred to you the grass is always greener on the other side?”

“Oh, a green joke. How pathetic,” the witch spat.

“Far from a joke. You can stay in here and dwell on the fact that you think Regina got everything — though why you think that continues to boggle my mind — or you can learn to let go of the past and think of the future. You have a child on the way—” Lilith was cut off.

“Yes! One with Regina’s precious soulmate!” Zelena’s eyes went wild, flashing with something beyond insanity. 

Lilith laughed. “Really? You went out of your way to sleep with Robin Hood and get pregnant all to hurt Regina. Do you see the madness here? Especially since we both know this is but a mere scratch.”

A tense scowl cut across Zelena’s face. “What do you mean?”

“Come now, Zelena, you might be pushed the edge and playing in the insanity, but we both know you’re not stupid. Do you honestly think pixie dust from forty years ago is valid? Back when both he and Regina were entirely two different people?” After all, Regina had walked through alchemistic fires and come out some new alloy. What had Robin done, beyond sink to new lows with almost every breath he took since losing his wife?

Zelena’s body shook. “Don’t tell me how to exact my revenge!” She punched the wall behind her with both fists.

“Why should I have to tell you? You already know you did your sister a favor. Yes, you went about it in a disastrous way, but a favor nonetheless.”

“I would never do her a favor!” Her voice was a thunderous roar and her eyes were wild again. She was thoroughly insulted by the very idea.

“Wouldn’t you? You and Regina are unbelievably similar to each other. The minute you both find out about each other, the first thing you want to do is destroy each other because this is the only way you know how to engage with things anymore. This obviously isn’t a healthy reaction, but you’re not healthy people.”

“Of course not. I’m—”

Lilith waved her off. “Yes, wicked, I know. It’s a terrible catchphrase by the way. Regina didn’t announce every three seconds that she was evil when she was the Evil Queen. It’s tedious and at this point a little grandiose. I mean, how wicked are you exactly? Why fixate on Regina, dear? Because she got everything you didn’t?”

“Yes!” Zelena roared, her eyes shifting green for a fraction of a second.

Lilith shook her head. “And don’t you think she envies you for some things?”

Zelena’s hand immediately went back to her stomach. “Of course.”  
  
Sighing, Lilith rolled her eyes and brushed some of her hair back. “Oh, not that. She has Henry already. Think, Zelena. What did you have that Regina longed for? While you were pining away to be married to some king twice your age, who had a fling with your mother, and taught by that disgusting imp, who also had a fling with your mother, what did you have that would have made you the envy of Regina’s world?”

“Nothing!” Zelena stomped her foot like an angry toddler. “The little bitch got everything! And still wasn’t satisfied!”

“And this is why you’re never going to go anywhere. You’ve focused on the wrong things, just as Regina did for far too long. Let’s try not have a thirty year wait for you to wake up. She got everything? You had a loving mother for more than half your life, who made sure to protect you from all the wrongs of the world, including her knuckle-dragging husband, until she died. You had more than Regina could have ever prayed for and you think she’s the greedy one?” Lilith shook her head. “Wake up, Zelena!”

“That wasn’t my mother!” And as soon as the words left Zelena’s mouth, she flinched.

“Wasn’t she?” Lilith demanded, stepping forward. Her eyes challenged Zelena. “Or was she just some placeholder? Some replaceable person? As you seem to think Henry is. You think you having a biological child puts you ahead of the game? Having her biological mother put Regina ahead of you?”

A snarl tugged at Zelena’s top lip. “Don’t speak of my mother!”

“You mean Cora? My daughter? That mother, the one who abandoned you on the side of the road because she couldn’t use you to climb the ladder? Just like you’re trying to use your own child to hurt Regina? That mother?” Lilith pressed.

Zelena stepped forward as well, fury burning through all parts of her. “I am not!”

An elegant eyebrow arched. “Using this child? Oh, my dear, but you are. Isn’t she just another object to upset Regina and show you’re the child your mother should’ve kept? To show Rumple, you’re the one he should’ve trained, corrupted, used, and discarded? Isn’t that what this is all about?”

“You don’t know what it’s about!” Zelena screeched.

“No, Zelena, you don’t know what it’s about. It’s about family, and healing. It’s about a little baby in your womb who is either there because you’re capable of loving it or because you need another piece on the board to destroy your sister. And why her? She didn’t even know you existed before you revealed yourself. You could’ve gone after your mother or Rumple, but you chose her. Why?”

“Because she got everything.”

“From your account, she was handed everything and you earned it all. You taught yourself magic, you conquered your own realm, and, hell, you had the better mother hands down. Why seek her out? Why try to destroy her? What does it cost you?”

Zelena did not have any answers. Of course, she did not. Regina was an easier target than the other two, but there was something there. Like Lilith said, at this point in their lives, Regina and Zelena had gotten very good at destroying things. This was why when they first heard of each other, their reactions were “take her out!” than anything else. This was how they interacted with all new things. They always set out to break the most precious things they could have. Of course, she knew Regina was trying to overcome this instinct. Now, it was time to push Zelena in that direction.

“Do you remember what it was like growing up with your mother? How it felt? How she made you feel?” Lilith asked. Her voice was not as sharp as before, but she kept a little edge.

“How do you even know about her?”

Lilith smiled. “I’m Lilith, Zelena. I’m sure you’ve heard of me.” 

“So, what, you’re omniscient or something since you’re a god?” Zelena rolled her eyes.

“Not omniscient by far, but just enough of a telepath to know your heart and mind and observant enough to know how you feel about your mother. I can’t force you to make any decisions, but I want you to know I want to know you and that feeling you had with your mother, being a part of a family, it doesn’t have to go away. I’ve only just returned to Regina’s life and I just met Henry last night, but I already know they’re family. I want that with you and your little one.”

“Oh, please, you’re liable to make me vomit,” Zelena declared with a face that looked like she was ready to spit.

Lilith wagged her finger. “Think it over. You’ve already lowered yourself to sleeping with a man you openly despise to get pregnant to hurt Regina. Do you really want to know how far you’ll sink after this doesn’t work? And, it won’t work, believe me. Beyond that, again, do you want to be the type of woman who uses your child for personal gain? You have people who will accept you. I’m here and Regina’s here. You might not believe it, but it’s true.”

Again, she rolled her eyes. “Oh, please.”

“Think about it. I’ll return tomorrow for your answer. Just know, while I wish to adore you, if you throw my kindness back in my face, it won’t be offered again.”

“Oh, but I’m sure Regina had all the chances in the world.”

“Well, my filly was eight when I last saw her, so you make of that what you will. She’s accepted me with open arms, even though she thought I abandoned her. What will you do, sweet pea?” Lilith did not stick around for response. Disappearing in a puff of violet smoke, she reappeared by the vending machines, where Henry seemed to be contemplating what to buy.

Henry did not even jump when he noticed her. “How’d it go in there?” he asked immediately.

“As expected. I’ll return tomorrow and see if she’s more receptive. Now, to your grandfather’s and then for me to meet the newest Charming,” Lilith replied with delight as she started down the corridor. Henry fell right into step with her.

They barely made it out of the hospital before they were set upon by a mob. Lilith quickly moved in front of her great-grandson before she realized his grandparents were at the head of the damned thing. She thought it would take a couple of days before she got to witness Charming stupidity in person. It was not as amusing as she thought it would be. After all, who brought a mob around their grandson?

“Let Emma go!” David demanded as he stopped in front of her. He stood with his chest out, like the mighty hero he believed himself to be.

“I’m afraid I don’t have Emma,” Lilith pointed out, holding up her hands slightly. “I’m clearly here with Henry.” She motioned to him, in case they missed the fact that he was behind her.

“Don’t play coy! You locked Regina and Emma up in her house,” Snow chimed in from right next to her husband.

“Well, yes,” Lilith replied. She did not see how that was any of their business.

“What?” Henry shouted, his preteen voice cracking. He stepped from behind her. “Nana, why would you do that? Mom trusted you!” He glared at her.

“Yes, I know. Your mothers need to work things out Henry and they’re not going to do it unless they’re made to interact with each other,” Lilith replied.

“Work things out like what, witch?” Hook demanded as he pushed his way to the forefront of the mob. Robin Hood was right behind him, bow in hand.

“Work things out like Emma shoved a dagger into the Darkness last night, full on ready to become the Dark One if it meant saving Regina,” Lilith pointed out. “Work things out like, Regina stood in front of the chernobog to save Emma. Work things out like Regina planned to die in a mineshaft to save the town and who popped back up to help her and make sure she did not die? Emma. And the big, flashing glaring lighthouse in the town no one wants to address, Regina entrusted the only person she cared for and loved and actually ripped out the heart of Peter fucking Pan for to Emma. They have to talk about this sometime. They can’t keep running from it,” Lilith stated.

“That is a lot,” Henry muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. Surely he had noticed and thought about it, but never put much stock in it since his mothers seemed so determined to run away from each other when lives were not on the line.

“And those are only the big things. So many smaller moments need a little attention, but they would rather distract themselves.” Lilith cut her eyes to Hook and Robin.

“Are you saying I’m a distraction?” Hook demanded, having the nerve to stare at her as if he were a big man.

“I’m saying you’ve glued yourself to Emma’s ass and won’t give her any space no matter how uninterested she is in you,” Lilith replied.

Hook’s gaze narrowed. “You watch your tongue.” He pointed his hook at her.

Lilith frowned and eyed Hook hard. “Do you want to play, pirate? While I am very partial to Emma and I know she’d be upset should I suck out your soul, I’m more than certain she’d get over it and I for certain will not lose sleep after I watch your hollowed out husk of a body turn to dust at my feet as your soiled soul settles in my stomach.”

“Hold on, mate.” Robin wisely held the idiot back and then leveled at look at Lilith. “Just free Regina and Emma.” Clearly he was just as much of an idiot if he thought he could command her.

Lilith waved her hand and everyone jumped back. She chuckled a bit. They were not as stupid as they looked.

“Emma and Regina will be able to leave the house as soon as they talk about what they need to talk about. I’m not trapping them there forever. I just want them to talk. There’s plenty of food if it should take forever and considering how stubborn they are, maybe it will take that long, but it needs to be done. Honestly, since Henry needs a place to sleep tonight, I can’t leave the spell on for more than the day, anyway, obviously,” Lilith pointed out.

“Well, we could stay with Grams and Gramps,” Henry volunteered and his grandparents actually grimaced.

“Somehow, Henry, I don’t think that would go over well,” Lilith remarked. “Besides, I like to think Regina and Emma will just do what needs to be done as soon as possible.”

David watched her carefully. “So, they just talk and then the spell vanishes?”

Lilith frowned a little. “Well, not exactly. They have to seriously talk about things and confront some issues they’ve been avoiding. You can even go tell them if you think it’ll get them out of there faster. Again, I’m not trying to trap them.”

David, Snow, Hook, and Robin all eyed her before turning around. They left and the mob followed. Lilith turned her attention to Henry.

“Does it bother you that I trapped them?” Lilith asked. She could sense his unease.

“I don’t like you using magic to force them to do something, but they do need to talk. We never even got to talk about how I almost died or how I changed in Neverland or even how they saved me in Neverland. I haven’t even really gotten the chance to tell Mom how sorry I am about how I treated her. I don’t think Emma ever even apologized for thinking Mom killed Archie. We never get to talk,” Henry scowled.

“Well, this should change. So, after we pay a visit to your grandfather, we’ll go back to the house. You and mothers can talk while I fix dinner. Then, we’ll invite David and Snow with the baby and have a nice family dinner.”

Henry smiled. “Can you cook?”

Lilith only laughed. It was a valid concern. For now, she had business with Rumple. She hoped Regina and Emma figured things out before then. 

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Regina and Emma manage to break the spell.


	5. Light Bulb

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters.

5: Light Bulb 

Regina could hardly remember how to breathe once Hook reminded them he was… well, there. He did not stick around for too long, off to join the Charmings’ merry band of idiots. Emma kept her distance, though, long after he was gone.

“Emma…” Regina was not sure what to say after that. She wanted to call Emma back to her, even though she had been the one to pull away. She wanted to wrap her arms around Emma, hold on, and never let go. She had wanted this for so long, but managed to ignore it. And therein lay the problem with talking. It led to longing and longing led to insanity. _At least insanity leads to great hair_. Of course, that small comfort did little to help or control this exploding yearn inside of her.

“I guess we can just cool out until Lilith comes back. I mean, she’s gotta come back right?” Emma toed the floor and looked off into the backyard. The scarred apple tree stared back. Emma had cut her mark in it, but elsewhere as well.

“Eventually, yes.” Although Regina doubted that would help them. It was her grandmother’s spell, so of course she could come and go as she pleased.

“Okay, so we wait it out,” Emma stated, drifting further and further away, both mentally and physically speaking. Her eyes were still on the backyard, but now it felt like she looked well beyond the apple tree. This pissed Regina off.

“Yes, so then you can go run right back to your pirate,” Regina hissed, glaring at Emma.

Emma’s attention snapped to her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Isn’t that what you’re itching to do? Flee the scene and hide behind your pirate, the one you hardly gave a second glance, let alone thought, as you were shoving the dagger into pure evil to save me,” Regina sneered, folding her arms across her chest. Of course, as soon as the words were out, it seemed like the strangest insult. And, why the hell was she so upset anyway?

“You don’t get to tell me who or what I was thinking about when I was ready to go beyond goddamn death for you! Do you think I wanted to be the fucking Dark One? I did that for you, so you don’t get to throw it back in my face!” Emma huffed.

“But, why?” Regina demanded, off the couch and in Emma’s face now. Like always, Emma did not back down. For someone who ran when things went sideways, Emma certainly loved to stand toe-to-toe with her. Emma never backed down with her, never ran from her, even when all she wanted was for Emma to go away.

Emma glared down at her with the usual fire and something more. She opened her mouth, shots ready to be fired. And then a pounding on the door interrupted them.

“Emma!” David called.

“Emma!” Hook sounded off next.

“Regina!” And Robin. Oh, just perfect. It was a full party in swing on the porch. _Maybe I should prepare cider_ , Regina thought. 

For a second, they continued to stare at each other, daring the other to back down. Of course, neither did and they were forced to turn their attention to the door before one of those three muscle-heads managed to actually knock the door down. Were they ramming it with their shoulders or had they actually found a battering ram about the town?

“We’re here,” Emma replied.

“Oh, good.” David sounded relieved and the noise on the door ceased. 

“Is Nana with you?” Regina inquired, even though she doubted it. Her nana would not have let those morons bang on her door as if they did not know what the damned thing was.

“No, but she said you guys have to talk and confront issues you’ve been avoiding to break the spell,” David replied.

“We did talk, but the door’s still stuck,” Emma pointed out, throwing her arms out in the direction of the door. 

Regina scowled and tapped her fingers against her biceps. “We must not have talked to Nana’s standards.” 

“Well, what does she want from us? I mean, we talked and everything’s cool, right?” Emma asked, giving Regina the most awkward, “I know this is bullshit” smile ever.

Regina only sighed and stepped away from the door. She retreated back to the sofa. For a long moment, Emma stood by the door and then threw her hands up with a long groan.

“Fine!” Emma conceded and made her way to the living room, too. She sat in one of the armchairs. “What else do we need to talk about?”

“Let’s go back to the most recent thing. You were about to explain why the hell you saved me and didn’t think of Hook for one second when you did it,” Regina stated.

Emma growled. “You don’t know who I was thinking about!”

“You were thinking about me, obviously! But, why? Why the hell would you make such a huge sacrifice for me and my happiness? What the hell made you think I could be happy without you?” Regina shrieked and then jumped back. Okay, where the hell did that come from?

Emma flinched and her face scrunched up. “I… I…” She tilted her head. “Huh?”

“You idiot!” Regina felt a surge of anger as she realized Emma had not contemplated this at all. The half-wit just stuck the dagger into the Darkness and assumed Regina would be fine. “Did I not step in front of the chernobog to keep him from harming you? What, do you think I did that for fun?” 

“Do you think what I did last night was for fun?” Emma roared right back.

“I think what you did last night was stupid! How the hell am I supposed to pick up the pieces if you become the Dark One?”

“I figured you’d save me, duh!”

“Oh, so you did think.” Regina rolled her eyes. What kind of moronic logic was that?

“Excuse me for having faith in you! I know when things go sideways, you’ll fix it, so I figured what the hell! I can save you and then you’ll figure out a way to save me. That’s what we fucking do,” Emma stated.

Regina did not have a comeback for that. It was what they did and if Emma had become the Dark One, Regina would have gone to Hell and back to change her back to _her_ Emma. _My Emma? Oh, fuck._

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Who the hell are you to get pissed at me for having fucking faith in you?” Emma demanded.

“Well, how am I supposed to feel after almost losing the one person who’s always been here whether I want her to or not?” Regina countered. _No, no, no, that’s not a good argument_.

“I’m not leaving you, Regina. I’m not going away like everyone else,” Emma said with conviction in her tone and a matching look in her eyes.

“You’re trying to leave now!” Regina pointed out, motioning to the door. “You just want to run off and be with Hook.”

“Just like you want to be with Robin, your damned soul mate.” Emma flung her hands to the door.

“What does it matter?” Regina growled.

“Oh, but you don’t think he’ll leave, do you? I’m suspect because of my history, but this asshole just ran off a fucking month ago and you’re cool with it? Why, because his wife turned out to be your psychotic sister? He didn’t even believe you when you told him! But, because he’s your stupid happy ending, I was willing to do anything to make sure you had that, even though I think that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen!”

Once again, Regina found herself unable to comment. Being with Robin was far from the smartest thing she had ever done, which said a lot considering her life, and she knew that whenever she had a quiet moment to reflect on it. He chased her when she tried to do the right thing and push him to his wife. He pressured her for a relationship and more; the latter even worse because his frozen wife was a stone’s throw away. He was mistrustful of her when she told the truth about his wife. He seemed to forget about her the very second he left Storybrooke if Zelena’s pregnancy was anything to go by. Not to mention, she was still baffled how the man had not known Zelena was not Marian, especially after two months together.

“Oh, god, Regina.” Next thing she knew, Emma had her in a hug again. “I’m sorry about that.”

“Don’t be…” Regina mumbled.

“I have to be. You’re crying,” Emma whispered, holding Regina close.

Regina pulled away and put her hand to her cheek to find that Emma spoke the truth. She was crying. Why was she crying? Because even Emma could see how horrible this relationship was? She just wanted to be loved, was that so wrong?

“I just want someone to love me…” Regina breathed, but it sounded so much like a sob and it hurt her chest.

“You are loved. You’ve got Henry and Snow and your weird grandmother. You’re loved,” Emma replied.

Regina sniffed. “All of whom left. You left, considered leaving. I can’t…” She was so tired of being alone, left to feel like she was less than, and like there was something inherently wrong with her.

Emma’s face scrunched up. “So, you settle for the first douche?”

“Much like you did,” Regina hissed, pushing away from Emma. How dare Emma judge her?

Emma winced. Clearly Regina was not the only one who made questionable moves in her love life. And she would be damned if she would stand there while Emma badmouthed Robin like Hook was some saint.

Regina stared Emma down. “You’re one to talk. You avoided Hook like the plague and then after he chased you like a dog after a bone you’re suddenly with him because you fell in a portal together? Did it ever occur to you that you have a million and one emotional things to deal with already and you let him wheedle you down to avoid thinking about them? Because, let’s face it, Emma, you avoid.”

“You do, too!” Emma pointed sharply at her. “Isn’t that why we’re stuck here in the first place? Besides, why I’m with Hook is none of your damn business!”

“Oh, but me being with Robin is yours?” Regina folded her arms across her chest again and tried to glare twice as hard as before. “Besides, did it ever occur to you I don’t want a pirate who has repeatedly endangered our son around him?”

Emma scoffed. “Did it ever occur to you that I don’t want a guy who treats you like a toy he could use and put away around our son? What the hell kind of message does that send the kid?”

“The same one the guy who follows you around until you have a breakdown and date him does!” In the back of her mind, Regina was fairly certain this conversation had taken a wrong turn. This could not be what her grandmother wanted them to talk about.

“Well, it’s not like you were gonna date me!” Emma screamed.

Somewhere in some universe where things made sense, a record scratched and halted everything in the room. What the hell were they talking about? Where the hell was this going? Regina’s stomach twisted into a knot as she realized where this was going. It scared the shit out of her, more than she could ever imagine. Before, there was a small crack in the dam, but the damned crack got so big and the dam was about to burst. Regina doubted she would be able to hold back her own deluge, but Emma was definitely gone.

“Emma,” Regina managed to say with a very shaky voice.

“No! It’s my turn to talk now. You’re all up in arms about me leaving and how no one loves you, but are you kidding me? Obviously, I love you! Damn it, Regina, how many times have I walked into Hell for you? How many times have I stepped in front of figurative bullets for you? How many fucking times do I have to drag you out of that fire for you to realize I’m here, no matter how many times you fuck up? You never were the one who drove me away. I’m always in your face and you’re always in mine. What the hell am I supposed to do when that stops, huh?”

Regina’s mind swam. What was she supposed to do with this information? And how the hell was she supposed to get her heart to stop beating a mile a minute? And who the hell admitted they loved someone in the middle of a damn argument? Emma fucking Swan.

Emma licked her lips and took a bold step closer to Regina while staring her down. “I saved you from the Darkness and had faith that you’d save me because I love you and believe in you. Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me I’m a liar. Tell me I’m fucking crazy. Tell me to leave.”

Regina could not say any of those things because she felt the same way. She put herself on the line, trusted Emma with Henry, and gave her the very best memories possible because there was affection there. Emma Swan was under her skin, etched into her soul, and possibly her better — though less intelligent — half. _Oh, god_.

Taking a page out of Emma’s book, Regina did not think. She just acted. Grabbing the front of Emma’s wrinkled t-shirt, Regina yanked the blond to her and kissed her with everything she had.

-8-8-8-8-

“You know he doesn’t have his dark power anymore, right?” Henry asked as he and Lilith arrived at Gold’s antique shop.

“I am aware. You know it’ll come back, right?” Lilith countered. Henry was cute, but a know-it-all and Lilith was not too fond of this aspect of his personality. Maybe over time he would become humble. He had to know by now that he did not know everything.

His face scrunched up, so much like she knew Emma’s did. “It will?”

“I merely used the Darkness as a portal to come here, manipulating it into a form I could use, but that didn’t destroy the energy, only displace it. Gradually, it’ll return and he’ll be the Dark One once more since your mother thankfully didn’t grasp onto it in time,” Lilith answered.

Henry’s nose wrinkled as he took in this information. “So, it’s just like part of him or something?”

“While his name is on the dagger, yes. That magic is tethered to whomever’s name is on that dagger and it will always return to that person.”

Before Henry asked another question, Lilith entered the shop. Henry was right behind her with the bell ringing to announce them. Belle came out by the time they made it to the counter.

“Henry, what are you doing here? Who’s this?” Belle asked, glancing at Lilith. 

“Oh, I guess no one told you,” Henry said. It was a bit surprising the news had not made it to this little corner of town. It was also a little disappointing that the local bookworm had not recognized Lilith right away.

“I’m Lilith. Henry’s just showing me around. Is Rumple about?” Lilith inquired, even though she knew the answer to that.

“Rumple’s not available right now,” Belle answered, regarding Lilith with a little more suspicion. She might not recognize Lilith, but she could undoubtedly feel something was not quite right. 

“He soon shall be,” Lilith declared, shaking her finger. There was no fun to be had if he was still in his coma, after all. She needed him to be aware of his suffering in some form.

Before Belle could ask questions, Lilith marched to the back like a woman on a mission. She stood before Rumple’s supine form, eyes closed as his body lay limp on a rather comfortable looking chaise. She frowned. How could such a vicious, useless bastard look so peaceful? Well, no more of that. With a wave of her hand, Rumple awoke with a sharp gasp, like coming up from drowning.

“Oh, thank God!” Belle rushed to his side and embraced him.

“Well, a god, yes,” Lilith remarked with a tight smile.

“What happened?” Rumple asked in a bit of a daze. He put his hand to his forehead and closed his eyes for a long moment. He wobbled a bit, obviously dizzy.

“I happened, Rumple, just like you happened,” Lilith commented with a scowl. She folded her arms across her chest and looked down at him.

He flinched. “Lilith.”

“Yes, Rumple. I would ask how you’re doing, but I imagine you’re pissing yourself right now,” Lilith hissed.

He sneered at her as best he could for a man who just came out of a coma and could barely sit up on his own. “You’ve clearly lost your touch. You’re not reading my mind at all.”

She wagged a finger at him. “I don’t need to read your mind, Rumple. or even drudge through your emotions. I just need you to be aware that I’m here and you will not play me as you have everyone else. I don’t care that you’re Henry’s other grandfather. I don’t care that Belle loves you. I don’t care about whatever you have on anyone. I don’t care.”

“Nana,” Henry said, as if reminding her that he was there.

Lilith glanced at him. “The trouble here is that everyone is willing to excuse your behavior for some reason or another, but I have no desire to do that. You took my filly and turned her into a monster for your own means. You use my great grandson as a pawn to have his grandmother trick my filly into murdering her own mother, my daughter. You lie time and time again to Belle, but pretend to be a better man. I honestly wouldn’t care about what you do, but that boy.” She pointed to Henry. “He’s important to me.”

“He’s important to me, too,” Rumple insisted.

“Right now, yes, because you think he’ll keep me from destroying you. For now, I have so many other things to do, but you’re on my list. The first on my list. I’ll leave you to think about what that might mean.” Lilith turned to leave and held up one finger. “While you’re thinking of what books to scour to banish me back to Pandemonium, I’ll leave you with this — we both know once I’m someplace, you can’t force me anywhere and I know you better than anyone else around here.” It would be fun to watch him try so hard to get rid of her, to worry himself into a well deserved grave. She would be sure to salt the earth where he was buried.

“I won’t let you destroy my happiness,” Rumple hissed.

Lilith laughed and did not bother to face him. He was not worth that much attention. “You’ve already done that yourself. After all, how many times have you lied to this delightful woman who loves you? How long will it take her to remember how many times you’ve hurt her? Yes, she’ll stay here while you’re hurt, but she’ll leave eventually. She’s not stupid or weak, like you always assume. She’ll leave and find true happiness elsewhere. You’ll be alone, you’ll plot, and then…” Smirking, she slowly turned to look at him. “I’ll be back.”

Lilith strode away with all the confidence and joy in the world. The sounds of her heels on his tiled floor almost seemed like cackling, even to her. She was going to love watching him wither and rot. She could practically taste the delight; it tasted like syrup. Henry trotted to catch up with her and she put an arm around him, even though he was frowning.

“Let’s get some lunch, kid. I really want to try a cheeseburger,” Lilith said with a light laugh. She wanted to try one and watch Regina eat one with Emma and Henry there. She could already hear the laughter and it made her feel light inside.

“What was that about? Haven’t you learned anything from Mom and Grams? Starting a feud never helps,” Henry huffed.

“Don’t worry, sweet boy. This feud started when he trapped me in Pandemonium, but I will not do any such thing to him or anything worse.” No, it would be much more fun to watch him self-destruct, just as he watched Regina implode in on herself.

He looked back at the shop. “You just threatened him.”

“No, I just made him aware of my presence. I promise you, Henry, I will not touch Rumplestiltskin,” she vowed. Not physically anyway.

He squinted, rightly suspicious, which was more likely gained honestly through all of his parents. “What if he tries to hurt you, though? Mom would be hurt.”

She smiled. “He can’t hurt me, which is why before he trapped me in my realm. His power is a fraction of my own.”

Henry’s brow furrowed as he contemplated other evils. “What if he sends you through a portal?”

“He can’t. I can resist any and all magic from him in front of me.”

“What if he summons a demon to fight you?”

She chuckled. “You’re really too smart for your own good. He can summon all the demons he wants, but again, I can oppose him. Besides, he would need to get his strength up to summon a true demon. He won’t have that sort of power for months. By then, you’ll have come up with a plan to stop it.”

He laughed because she was right. From then on, he was fine with them going to get burgers. He laughed even more when she suggested they get one for Regina.

“Oh, I’m gonna get a really messy one for Mom. You know, she almost never eats burgers,” Henry stated.

Lilith wrinkled her nose a little. “I know. I want to see what all the fuss is about with you and Emma. You’re always so into them.” 

“Because they’re awesome. We gotta get milkshakes with ‘em, too. I’d suggest chili fries, but those are kinda messy for takeout and by the time we get ‘em home, the fries would be all soggy and the chili would be all at the bottom of the box. We can try that the next time we come,” he declared.

Lilith smiled, happy he was making plans with her for the future. She looked forward to it. Once Granny packed up their lunch for them, making sure to give her a hard look as she did so, they made their way back to the house. There was a crowd there, the mob from earlier.

“What’s going on here?” Lilith asked with a sigh. Did these people not have better things to do? Wasn’t there an Internet or something to keep them busy?

“We told them to talk and they still haven’t come out. I thought you said talking would break the spell!” Snow practically cried.

Lilith’s brow furrowed as she looked around at everyone, who looked just as stricken as Snow. “Yes, talking. Why are you all so hysterical?”

“Because they haven’t come out yet and they’ve been in there talking for almost a full bloody hour. Did you lie to us, witch?” Hook demanded. He dared to point his hook at her again.

“I don’t very much like your tone, pirate, and I’m very close to taking your whole arm to keep you from shoving that hook in my direction again.” She glared at him and the fool wisely dropped the hook. “I imagine you must be hard pressed to lose the other hand… or an even more important attachment,” she hissed with a glance down. She would be doing the female population of all the worlds a favor if she castrated him right now, she figured.

“Why would you trap your own granddaughter in her house?” Robin begged to know.

“You say trapped, but Henry, if you would do the honors.” Lilith motioned to the door, the bag in her hand rustling a little from the movement. She was in charge of the burgers while Henry had the milkshakes, knowing how much care they actually needed in transport.

Henry shrugged and used his free hand to turn the doorknob. The door swung open. Lilith smiled. Hook and Robin stepped forward, but Lilith stopped them with a raised hand.

“We’re all about to have lunch together. After, I’ll be happy to send the ladies out should they want to leave,” Lilith announced. She then looked at Snow. “You and David are invited to dinner tonight. Please, bring the baby.”

Lilith hurried Henry inside and shut the door quietly behind them. She then patted Henry gently in the chest. He turned to look at her.

“Wait here a moment, dear.” No sense in traumatizing him or getting his hopes up if Regina and Emma had managed to break the spell some other way.

Henry frowned a little, but did not disobey. Lilith moved throughout the house, in search of her granddaughter. A smile settled on her face when she found Regina in the living room with Emma. They were completely wrapped up in each other. Lips against lips, a hand on an olive-toned cheek, and a hand in blond hair.

“So, I see you figured it out,” Lilith said, her voice causing them to snap apart.

“Nana!” Regina huffed. Her lipstick had vanished, so they had probably spent the better part of that hour Hook spoke on kissing. Emma had the decency to look embarrassed and she blushed like a teenager caught making out with her crush.

“What? I’m happy for you, dear. You both deserve to have the person you’ve been dancing around instead of watered down versions of yourselves. Now, Henry and I brought lunch and I’m sure you need to work your energy back up,” Lilith announced in a light tone.

“Nana, this isn’t some game,” Regina scowled.

“I am well aware of that, dear. I was just tired of you two doing this.” Lilith gestured to them with her free hand, making a circle as if that meant something. “You’ve had affections for Emma since she returned for you in the mine. Hell, she had a space in your heart since she rescued Henry down the mine, but you had no idea what to do with that. It’s grown and you’ve acknowledged it. Move on.”

Emma blinked and then looked at Regina with a grin. “Wow, really?”

“It’s not that simple, Nana,” Regina said.

“Yes, it is very much that simple. It worked, didn’t it? You both needed to talk and look at each other in a calm setting. You know what’s there, but you’ve ignored it or allowed yourselves to be distracted. It’s tiring to watch,” Lilith replied with a long-suffering sigh. “Henry, come on, your mothers are in the living room.”

“Nana!” Regina objected.

Henry came in before Regina or Emma could say anything else. He grinned and held up his bounty. As expected, they relaxed as soon as he showed up.

“We got lunch!” he announced.

Lilith ushered both women to the table and put down her bag. They sat down while Henry dished out the food. He did not bother with plates, just passing everyone their hamburger containers and fries.

“What is this?” Regina asked, as it certainly was not her usual. She inspected the burger as if she had never seen such a thing before. The distasteful frown on her face was almost enough to make her nana laugh out loud.

“Nana wants to try burgers and she didn’t want to try alone. She also wanted to try milkshakes,” Henry replied, easing a strawberry shake in front of his mother and then he passed his great grandmother a chocolate one.

“Come on, Regina, live a little. Shake up your routine,” Emma remarked with a teasing smile and a little wiggle. She then took a loud slurp from her milkshake.

Regina gave Emma a glare, but it was more playful than anything else. “My routine is just fine. I’m not looking to die of total heart failure like some other people at the table, though.”

“Are you’re scared we’ll all see you have no idea what to do with a burger like that, eh?” Emma countered, nodding toward the monstrosity of a burger in front of Regina.

“Mom, you’ll like it,” Henry promised. He had already jumped into his burger and there was a ring of ketchup and special sauce around his mouth.

“Come on, Regina. We can try them together,” Lilith said. She then turned her attention to her hamburger, inspecting it. It was not a plain one, as she had allowed Henry to order for her and he did not seem to believe in ordering plain hamburgers. She was not exactly sure how to pick it up without losing most of the inside of the burger, as it was packed with two patties, bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, onion rings, cheese, and pickles with sauce oozing out of it. “Well, after Henry and Emma show us how to do it.”

“What do you mean how?” Henry held up his burger, probably as an example. He had both hands wrapped around the thing and did not seem to care ketchup dripped out onto his fingers.

“You ladies might want to keep it wrapped in the paper,” Emma said, pointing to the thin wrap around the burger that helped to keep it together. She picked up and jumped right in, opening her mouth in a way that probably would have made a snake gasp in shock. “Just like this,” she mumbled, face full of food. And ketchup dripped down the corner of her mouth.

“You got us into this,” Regina said to Lilith as she continued to examine the burger. She looked more likely to shoot it than eat it.

“Come on, Regina. You only live once!” Lilith decided to jump in as well, grabbing the burger and taking a bite. She could not help the chipper noise that escaped her, as so many delicious tastes exploded on her tongue.

Sighing, Regina picked her hamburger up. She held it with the minimum number of fingers and stared at it like she had no idea what it was. Seconds ticked by before she finally took a delicate bite. Emma and Henry actually cheered. Regina tried to glare at them, but could not muster anything beyond a smile.

This was almost perfect. Lilith still wanted David, Snow, and their baby there. Plus, there was Zelena and her baby. That was the complete family they all deserved. 

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Emma goes to see Hook and Regina goes to see Hood.


	6. Illuminate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters.

 

6: Illuminate

Emma had never seen Henry try so hard to stay up. It was hard to convince him to even leave the living room. He wanted to talk Lilith’s ear off, wanting to find out more about her to compare to his research. He wanted to know about her world, which she did not seem very much inclined to share with him, but told him of other worlds that tickled his sense of adventure and fantasy. 

“So, are there a bunch of demons where you live?” Henry asked as Regina tried to shoo him up to his room. He was on the stairs, practically calling out his question to his great-grandmother.

“Henry, for the umpteenth time—” Lilith began from her space on the sofa, but he chimed in.

“I know you’re a god, but are there demons? Or are they fallen angels? What do they look like? Can they come to Storybrooke?” Henry persisted, but Regina finally got him on the second floor landing and his time was done.

Emma was a little more inclined to believe Lilith was a demon based on the stunt she pulled earlier. She turned her attention to Lilith, who sipped a cup of tea. She had the nerve to look innocent, just as calm as could be.

“So, was that your version of Match.com?” Emma asked Lilith. She was in the armchair near the other end of the couch, where Regina had been sitting before she escorted Henry to bed.

“Are you upset?” Lilith countered with a small smile trying to fight its way on her lips. Not that it mattered, the way her eyes shined, it was clear that she was amused by this.

Emma scowled. “I don’t like being played.”

Lilith waved it off and scoffed. “Oh, please, you both needed it. This family doesn’t seem to be big on talking, even when you have downtime. You both needed to talk and confront your feelings. It’s better for everyone.”

“Oh, better for Hook and Hood, too, then?” Emma huffed. Now, she would have to go explain to Hook that she actually had feelings for Regina, which she honestly knew and just refused to deal with. Because dealing was not her thing, damn it, and Lilith had to just go and ruin that!

Lilith actually rolled her eyes. “Hood is undeserving and we both know you don’t feel for Hook what he wants. He wore you down and you felt like you needed to love someone, so why not him? It made more sense to you than admitting your feelings for Regina.”

Emma narrowed her gaze to this decidedly demon woman. “How the hell do you know that?”  _ Can she freaking read minds? _

Lilith gave her a nonchalant shrug. “Well, one, you’re easy to read. Two, I’m somewhat telepathic. Three, I watched you run from that pirate constantly and consistently until you fell into Zelena’s portal. Your affections for Hook pale in comparison to what you feel for Regina. He’s a friend and that’s all right. I don’t begrudge you that, even though I have my own issues with the man, but be honest with yourself. This is a woman you moved the moon with, which is no easy feat for even me and magic is emotion.”

Emma scowled even more. It was all true. She liked Hook, but not to the degree she loved Regina. She honestly felt like she gave up when she finally gave into him and figured whatever she feelings she had for him were good enough. It did not matter, anyway. Regina had her stupid soulmate and all.

“What about Robin?” Emma suddenly asked.

“Yes, dear, what about Robin?” Lilith echoed, turning to look at Regina as she descended the stairs. The sparkle in her eye was downright evil.

Regina frowned while joining them. She stood with her hands across her chest and stared like they had both done something wrong. “I don’t know, Nana. You seem to have the situation well read. Why don’t you tell me?”

Lilith laughed. “Very well. You want desperately to be worthy of love and you like this idea of a soul mate because it means you have a great love out there who will accept you for who you are and…” She suddenly sighed. “Oh, really, Regina are you going to make me go through this whole song and dance? I might vomit halfway through the mindless drivel. If you truly believed in soulmates, you’d have sought Robin out years ago.”

Regina glared at her grandmother even more. “Well, maybe I didn’t believe it until he showed up and showed an interest in me.”

Lilith rolled her eyes. “You mean showed an interest in your ass. You and he are not the same people that foolish dust decided to join. That sorrowful, depressed little girl is gone, replaced with a much harder woman. He was an idealistic rebel back then, who stood for something, much closer to the wonderful man in the stories told here than he is now.”

“Tool,” Emma coughed. Regina eyed her, but thankfully Lilith pushed on like nothing happened.

“And let’s not act like it doesn’t bother you that he’s still with you despite the fact that you originally had his wife executed or that he pursued you while who he thought was his wife was frozen in your crypt. Do I really need to paint you a picture here or are you going to drive me insane?” Lilith inquired calmly. Putting her teacup down, she placed the back of her hand to her forehead. “It’s all giving me such a headache.”

Emma watched Regina’s face fall, like she had not consciously considered these things. She had just jumped for joy at the idea of having someone love her. Emma felt bad and moved quickly. She wrapped Regina into her arms, reminding her that someone certainly did love her.

“What do you love about that man, Regina? At least Emma is actually friends with the pirate, as horrible as he is. What has Robin offered you since coming into your life? He’s distracted you from your first great love, your son, and treated you like some item he can pick up and put down. It certainly pisses Emma off,” Lilith commented.

“Lilith!” Emma huffed. Yeah, it pissed her off, but there was no need for Lilith to announce it to the freaking world!

Lilith gave her a weird, tight-lipped sneer and then just waved the whole thing off, like she did not even care. “Fine. I’ll go to bed. You two can go back to dancing around each other. Just expect to be locked some place again whenever it catches my fancy. Which one of your offices has the bigger desk? I’m sure you’ll need it.”

“Nana, there’s no need for that!” Regina quickly objected while Emma just sort of made a “gah” noise.

“Look! We’re fine, see.” Emma held Regina close to make her point. Sure, doing things on either of their desks was a nice idea to entertain, but not so great when the idea was coming from Regina’s goddamn grandmother!  _ And this’ll be a nice nightmare for at least a week _ .

Lilith just smiled at them and disappeared upstairs in a poof of purple smoke. Emma sighed, but she did not let Regina go. Regina did not pull away.

“Was that all true?” Emma asked in a low, trembling voice. She knew it was true for her, but she was a little scared that Lilith was talking out of her ass with Regina.

Regina sighed and put her hands on Emma’s arms. The simple touch made Emma’s heart speed up a little. How had she managed to go on for so long without holding Regina like this?

“I’ve never stopped to think of my feelings for Robin, just satisfied with him loving me. I do know what I feel for you, now that the genie is out of the bottle so to speak, is much more vast than anything I could’ve thought I felt for him,” Regina explained.

Emma smiled and squeezed Regina tightly to her. “Aw, you like me more.” The thought made her stomach flip, though. Regina liked her more than her damned soul mate. Heavy did not begin to cover it, but she did not want to flee. She just sort of wanted to stay wrapped around Regina.

Regina snorted, but there was a smile on her face. “Come on, we both have men to let down. Also, let your parents know Nana was not pleased with them passing on dinner.”

“Hey, if they said the little guy was sick, then he was sick.” Of course, the timing was a little suspicious, but Emma liked to believe her parents would not use the baby to get out of an awkward dinner. Not that it was awkward without them there.

Regina did not argue and they broke apart. Before they fully parted ways, though, Emma had to pull Regina in for a kiss. She needed to prove she could and prove this was real. The feel of Regina’s mouth and the accompanying flood of emotions made this feel surreal. Regina cupped Emma’s face while Emma’s hands went to Regina’s hips.

“So much time wasted,” Regina complained as they pulled away for air.

“But, so much time to look forward to,” Emma replied and went in for another kiss. She wanted to get to the “looking forward” stuff as soon as possible. Too bad they needed air. 

Regina pulled away to catch her breath. “Then, let’s get this out of the way.”

Emma nodded, even though she did not want to leave Regina’s side. “Um… we’ll see each other later, right?”

A soft chuckle escaped Regina. “I do believe we will. We’re accepting this to see where we can go, correct?”

Feeling a little awkward, Emma laughed, too, and rubbed the back of her neck. “Uh, yeah.”

“Emma.” Regina’s voice was stern, almost scolding.

“No, yeah! I’m not trying to back out of this or anything. I just feel a little silly around you now… more so than I used to anyway. I mean, to think, we could’ve been together, but we both just sort of chickened out…” Regina was frowning now and Emma got a feeling she should shut up. “I should stop talking, right?”

“I feel that way a lot of the time, but this time most certainly. We both have feelings for each other, yes?”

Emma nodded. “Yeah.”

“And we both want to see if we could actually make it as a couple, yes?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, we should both go set those men right and then we can see where we go, yes?”

“Yeah.”

“Then let’s leave it at that before you ramble us into something we won’t know how to get out of. We don’t want Nana to have to help again.”

Emma shook her head. “Definitely not.”

“Then goodnight. Come by in the morning for breakfast.”

“Sure.” Emma had to fight off a grin.

They parted ways before either of them said anything more. Emma practically ran out of the house to find Hook. It was not hard. He was on his ship, which was where she checked first. She sighed before she boarded. This was going to be a pain in the ass, but Regina was worth it. Being with her true family was worth it.

“Emma, love,” Hook smiled and went to pull her in for a hug. “I’ve missed you.”

Emma stepped just out of range and he embraced the air. “It’s been a day, barely a day.” She rubbed the back of her neck.  _ It’s been something _ .

“A day too long, Swan, without your beautiful face.” He flashed her an even more charming smile than before.

She held in a grimace. He was not going to make this easy, not that she expected him to. This was how she ended up dating him, in the first place. All persistence and wearing down.  _ How the hell did I end up in the mess? Usually when a guy can’t take no for an answer, I knee him in the balls and move on _ . Well, she could not move on in this case since she and Hook shared the same small town as home now and she had hit him. He just came back for more.  _ Isn’t that a sign of some kind? _

“Look, Hook, we need to talk,” she said and wished like hell he was from this realm, so he knew how bad those words really were.

Instead, Hook smiled again. “About what?”

“About us,” she answered, pointing between them.

“What about us, beyond how glorious we are, anyway?” he laughed. The sea was very quiet at night, so this laughter sounded even louder for some reason and made her want to flinch.

Sighing, her shoulders slumped. “That’s just it. We’re not glorious. This isn’t working.” She motioned between them again.

His face fell. “What? But, we’re in love.”

“No, you’re in love. I’m… an idiot.” She had to concede that point. “I care about you, but not the same way you care about me. I just kinda… got tired of running from you and, well, gave in, I guess.” It sounded lame and she felt like an ass.  _ When did I get this stupid?  _ She was not sure, but she felt like she was a couple of types of stupid. Regina-stupid was hard to pinpoint, just like Hook-stupid.

He frowned. “Running from me? The chase is half the fun, though. I knew you wanted me and, as you can see, I was right.” Now, he smiled and gestured down to himself like he was some grand prize.

_ What the hell kinda way is that to think? _ She shook that off and decided to just stick to the mission. “No, you just kinda wore me down. I ran as much as I could, but there’s only so much running you can do around here without totally leaving and that wasn’t an option for me since my family’s here. Look, I like you in the sense that we could be friends, but I don’t have the kinds of feelings for you that you want me to. I don’t feel that way about you.” She shrugged a little, but was on guard. She was not sure how he would react to being dumped and violence was definitely an option.

His frown remained and he tensed a bit, but then suddenly sighed. He shook his head and paced for a bit before turning back to her. He pinned her with a hard look. “It’s Regina, isn’t it?” He practically spat the name.   


She twisted her face up a little. “Is it written on my forehead or something?” How had he guessed that so easily? And how dare he say her name like that? He was lucky Regina had not turned him into a fly and swatted him for some of the crap he pulled.  _ Wow, and stuff I just sort of let slide. Damn it _ .

His jaw tensed and he growled a little. “She looks at you a certain way and you did shove the dagger into the Darkness for her, fully prepared to become the Dark One to save her. While I think you would do that for others, you’d probably at least think about it for a second. You didn’t even consider it as you went to save her. Plus, she appeared out of nowhere to save you from a snow beast and your magic is more powerful when she’s with you.”

Emma’s forehead wrinkled. “So, you knew?” He knew she had these feelings for Regina, knew Regina had feelings for her, and chased her like some game anyway? What the hell?

He sneered. “Aye, but I figured you made your choice when you were with me.” He paused and pressed his hand to his chest, a little puffed up for a second. “And, it was only a matter of time before you got over her.”

Emma sighed. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s likely to happen anytime soon.” She saw herself not thinking and doing stupid things for Regina for a long time. But, at least if he thought he had a chance, he was not likely to do something stupid to endanger everybody.

He ran his hand through his hair and dared to give her puppy-eyes. “Are you sure?”

She shrugged again. “I don’t think I’ll be getting over the mother of my son anytime soon.” Maybe that was where her affection for Regina started. She liked that Regina took good care of Henry, even when she made him think he was crazy, but then again, Emma had thought he was crazy for a long while. To some degree, Regina had been the type of mother she wanted Henry to have from the beginning. A mother who did things with him, read to him, made sure he never wanted for anything, and was there for him. She really liked that, especially when she first met Regina. Maybe she never got over it, even when Regina was busy screwing up and trying to ruin her life.

He grunted. “I like to think I could change your mind.” He then gave her what he had to think was a charming smile, but only came across as sleazy. Maybe it was charming back in the Enchanted Forest.

“You can’t and you have to accept that. No more chasing me or you might find a fireball coming at your head,” she remarked. Hell, he might find that anyway, as Regina was not fond of him in the first place.

He made a low humming noise. “So, Regina returns your affections then?”

“Yeah, she’s crazy about her baby mama.” Emma grinned and held her head up high. 

“And what of her man?” The question was more of a demand. He shook a little. Anger undoubtedly starting to build in his system.

Emma stood on guard, in case he lost control of him. “He’ll be getting his own ‘let’s be friends speech,’ but the difference here is that she won’t mean it. I wouldn’t mind being your friend, though,” she said, not that it would work. Hook would probably keep chasing her. She needed to severe all ties with him, make sure there was no hope… or Regina would seriously have to fireball the guy. And, even then, she doubted he would stop.

“I’m not in a particularly friendly mood right now,” he snarled. He gave her one last glare before walking away. “You’ll miss me, Swan,” he hissed before disappearing below deck. 

_ Like hell I will _ . She decided to let him go without saying a word. Calling him back or even just responding would only fan the flame and give him hope. So, she went on her way. 

Now, she had to go home and deal with her parents. The thought itself made her sigh and she felt like her shoulders were suddenly heavy. Yeah, she looked forward to that even less than dealing with Hook.

“Mom, Dad,” she called as she entered the apartment.

“Oh, Emma! Thank god,” David said, rushing to meet her at the door. He wrapped her in a hug, cupping the back of her head like always. It felt nice, just as it always did, but her shoulders were still weighed down.

“What? You act like something happened to me. If anything, you should be worried about you. Lilith didn’t buy the whole ‘baby’s sick’ excuse you fed her for not coming to dinner. She cooked,” Emma informed them as she returned her father’s embrace.

David stepped back to look at her. “She did?” 

“Yeah, she did and it was pretty good. She’s okay. You don’t have to be scared of her. She wants to get to know you guys. She sees us all as a family,” Emma explained. It was weird, but sweet and she wanted to see where this would go.

“Really?” Snow asked, coming into view. She had Neal in her arms.

“Yeah, so she’s gonna invite you again. You better come. She’s not below using magic to get the results she wants and Henry’s on her side, so he won’t even scold her over it,” Emma warned them.

“You want us to come?” Snow asked.

Emma sighed. Regina was not the only one she needed to talk to. There was so many issues between her and her parents, but Regina had a little something over them that allowed Emma to speak with her. Emma was comfortable with Regina. She felt awkward with her parents now… or maybe always had. She needed to get comfortable with them and then have a long talk about abandonment issues, rooting for her to get back with Neal, pushing her toward Hook, trying to rob her of free will, and possibly ruining her friend Lily’s life by filling her with darkness and dumping her in another realm. Not to mention their self-righteous attitudes, but they were still her parents.

“Yeah. Look, Mom, I just learned today, that’s my family. And, you’re my family. Lilith respects that,” Emma stated. Plus, Lilith kind of taught her that sometimes forgiveness was the best way to move on. Lilith had come here and let go of the fact that Snow had murdered her daughter, using Regina to do it. She just wanted to be with her family, like Emma did. Yeah, there was a lot to forgive and she was not there yet, but avoiding would not help her get there. It was time to start dealing.

“That’s your family?” David echoed with his face screwed up a bit, like he never thought of it that way. She could not blame him. It never really crossed her mind, even though her heart knew.

Emma nodded. “Yeah. You know how she forced me and Regina to talk, right? Well, we finally talked. We talked about all of the crap we’ve been through together and finally figured out what the hell it all meant.”

“And wha… what did it mean?” Snow stammered. From her wide eyes, Emma suspected her mother knew.

“Here’s the thing, I care about Regina and she cares about me and Lilith was sick of us not talking about it or acting like our feelings didn’t exist. We needed the push and it feels good to finally just let it out,” Emma replied and grinned.

“Wait, what about Hook? I mean, you love him,” Snow said.

“Yeah… no.” Emma shook her head. They definitely needed to talk about that and other relationship expectations. “He wore me down. Look, it doesn’t matter. Hook’s out, Regina’s in, and you’re coming to dinner tomorrow. Now, I need to take a shower because I’ve been arguing with Regina for half the day and it takes a lot out of me.” She made her way to the bathroom as quickly as possible.

Once inside the bathroom, Emma breathed a sigh of relief. This felt like such a long process and it was hard to believe it was only a day. Running her hands through her hair, she wondered if maybe she should just dive right in and talk to her parents like she did Regina, but decided against it.

“It’s definitely too much for one day. Get comfortable in this new thing and then talk to them. I mean, they’re not going anywhere, right?” Emma muttered. In her heart, she knew that was the case, but she would always have her past with her, whispering in her ear. A horrible voice in her head told her maybe they would not always be there. Sighing, she tried to put it out of her mind. She had enough on her plate as it was.

-8-8-8-8-

Robin stayed in a room at Granny’s at Regina’s insistence, and her expense. She could not imagine Roland out in a tent in a forest in Maine, especially on chilly nights. No child needed to go through that beyond a regular camping trip. She felt Granny watch her as she disappeared the stairs to his room. She had always suspected the staring was disapproval on Granny’s part, but she was not sure who the diner owner disapproved of. Maybe both of them and the relationship in general. She understood why, now. She knocked on the door and it was opened almost immediately.

“Regina,” Robin grinned and tried to pull her into a hug, but she put her hand to his chest. 

He looked down at her hand, but she kept her eyes on him. “Robin, we need to talk,” she said, keeping her voice even.

“Oh. Okay.” He sounded a little disappointed. “We’ll have to do it quickly and quietly. Roland’s asleep.”

She almost frowned, but kept it in. She suspected he would not suggest doing anything quickly had she shown up with other intentions. He rarely showed such care for Roland.  _ And this is why I did my best to not analyze him too deeply _ . Like her nana said, if she stopped and thought about Robin, she would have realized she had so many problems with his behavior, his personality, and his overall being.

“This won’t take long.” She stepped inside and he closed the door behind him.

“Look, if this has anything to do with your grandmother…” he started.

She held up a hand to stop him. “This has to do with a lot of things, but the short part of it is that this isn’t working. It never did work and I was a fool to think it would. I never believed in pixie dust until suddenly you were staring me in the face with that tattoo.”

Pixie dust in and of itself had always seemed ridiculous to her, which was why she had never pursued him after Tinker Bell left her. How could magic lead her to love? Magic could not create love. People created love and from that love came magic, not the other way around. She knew that all too well. She could not just love some random person. She had tried it with the King, hell even with Snow for a while. Love could not be forced, could not just appear out of nowhere or be willed in existence. Love took interest, understanding, trust, patience, grit, tears, pain, pleasure, and a million other little things that magic just could not zap into them because they met.

“We’re soulmates,” Robin insisted.

In the Enchanted Forest, this nonsense meant something. But, of course, she let that go the moment Daniel’s body had hit the floor. The Enchanted Forest was full of foolish, childish beliefs that withered and died in her long ago.

Regina shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. I wanted to believe that for all of the wrong reasons, but honestly, I don’t have the feelings for you that I should. I hardly know you and what I do know hasn’t been quite as honorable as you insist you are. I also don’t like how I act when I’m around you. I’ve become a person who is willing to leave her son in dangerous situations and who sleeps with a married man with his dying wife a stone’s throw away. In even my deepest madness, such a thought had never crossed my mind. I wish for all of the wrong things when you’re around and it’s not because of you. It’s because of that damned pixie dust. It’s this sense of foolish, girlish hope inside of me. I can’t let it control me like that. I refuse to let it control me like that. I have to take charge of my life, as that is the only thing I have ever wanted.”

“Regina, I love you,” he insisted.

“No, you don’t even know me. What could you possibly love about me? The fact that I killed your wife?” Saying it aloud, taking ownership of it with him standing before her and Roland asleep only a couple of feet away made her stomach twist. She very nearly vomited.

“That was Zelena,” he insisted with a pathetic expression. He reached for her once more, but she sidestepped his arms.

Shaking her head, she wagged her finger at him. “The second time, but when we first met, it was me. I was the one who did it and I can’t fathom how you can look me in the eye and say you love me while knowing that. Snow was a child and only had a hand in the death of my first love and I burned with hatred for her for years, went mad with rage. Yet, you look at me as if everything’s fine. I can’t fathom this.”

She wanted to scream, but was respectful of Roland’s rest, but this made no sense! She paced for a second and glared at him. He did not make any sense. She did not care about the culture of the Enchanted Forest, how much sense pixie dust and soulmates meant, or what they claimed love was. If he truly loved Marian a fraction of what she loved Daniel, he should want to reach into her chest and yank out her heart without the aid of any magic.

“Why haven’t you tried to murder me in my sleep yet?” She put her hands up in frustration. If their roles were reversed, she would have stabbed him in the heart the first chance she got and would have made sure to twist the dagger while she was at it, just for the poetic justice of it all.

“Because I love you,” he said again.

“Why? What could you possibly love about me?” she demanded with a scowl. Nothing he could dredge up would cut the mustard, though.

He put his hand to his chest. “I love the way you care about people. You went out of your way to help Marian.”

“You do realize this is only a recent aspect of my personality,” she pointed out. Well, maybe a reborn aspect of her personality and it was slow to grow. “Before that, life was cheap to me. Very cheap.” And he needed to know that. Marian’s life had meant so little to her that she did not even remember executing her. But, then again, Robin acted as if he did not remember it either.

He made a cutting motion in the air. “I don’t care about that.”

“And that’s the odd thing, Robin.” She narrowed her gaze at him. “You should care about that, especially when one of those lives was Marian’s. I killed her and it meant nothing to me at the time and you act like it means nothing to you now. The only reason you’re free to be with me is because Marian’s dead by my hand and then by my sister’s hand, but you don’t care about that. I don’t understand this and I don’t understand you. I refuse to work to understand it. I’d rather work on me as a person and you’re not constructive in that regard. So, consider this goodbye.” She turned and opened the door.

“Regina, wait!” he called after her.

“Why?” With a wave of her hand, she went up in purple smoke. This was for the best. Nana was right. She had all of these feeling for Emma Swan and her relationship with Robin was peculiar at best. Emma was a part of her small family while Robin was… well, odd and not a good form of it.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: more from Zelena and a family gathering.


	7. Grey Clouds and Sunny Days

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters.

7: Grey Clouds and Sunny Days 

Breakfast was nice and Lilith enjoyed spending time with Regina and Henry. She was extremely happy when Emma showed up halfway through the meal and she sat in with them. Emma took a seat at the table and jumped right into the flow. It got even better when Regina set a plate of pancakes in front of Emma and Emma’s face lit up. She seemed delighted beyond just the food and she conversed with them as if this was something they did every day. This was her family and Lilith could not have been happier to be part of it.

“Well, I’m off,” Lilith announced, standing from her chair.

“Hold on, Nana. I’ll come,” Henry said and he wiped his mouth. He seemed to know he should give his mothers some alone time.

“Of course. The more the merrier,” Lilith replied.

Henry was ready in a flash and they left the house. Regina pled with them to not return with more fast food. They only laughed on their way out. They could hear Regina groan even with the door shut.

“Have you had ice cream before? If we come back with ice cream, Mom won’t care what we have for lunch,” Henry told her as they began their journey down the street.

She smiled. “That sounds lovely, but don’t tell your mother I’m encouraging such manipulative behavior. While I respect it, I know she won’t.”

He graced her with a lovely grin and had the nerve to wink at her. “You’re learning, Nana.”

She laughed loudly. He was charming when he wanted to be. She looked forward to experiencing this for many years to come. Hopefully, it would include another great grandchild.

When they arrived at Zelena’s cell, Henry hung back again. Lilith hoped Zelena had made the right decision. She would hate to have to watch her own granddaughter rot in a cell, driving herself even crazier in imagining punishing Regina for made-up crimes.

“Well, top of the morning to you, Grandma,” Zelena said with mocking cheerfulness from her bed. This did not seem promising. At least she had not shot up and moved over to the wall in fear. But, too much of this was posturing and could mean dashed hopes.

“I prefer ‘nana.’ How are you doing this morning, Zelena?” Lilith inquired.

“Quite well all things considering. Now, I have a question for you.” Zelena put a finger in the air and let loose one of her more demented smiles.

Rolling her eyes, Lilith sighed. “No, I won’t help you escape. Should you truly agree to accept your family, then you’ll get out, but no other way and, no, you can’t lie to me.”

Zelena’s expression did not change. “One of those built in lie detectors. Is it anything like the Savior’s?” 

“I’m glad you think this is all a game, Zelena. Enjoy your time here and continue to plot your frivolous revenge.” Lilith turned to leave. Perhaps there was some way for her to just get the great grandchild. She would have to think on it.

“Wait! You’re not serious!” Zelena’s voice held a little quiver to it. She understood this was her last chance… at so much.

Lilith turned back with her arms now across her stomach with her hands on her elbows. “Why should I bother with you if you’re not going to change? Do you honestly think you can play me? You know who I am, in more senses than most, so why would you try to play with me?”

With her face tense, Zelena looked away for a long moment. “You said you could adore me.” Her voice was small, scared, but it echoed in the barren space.

Lilith regarded Zelena for awhile. Yes, she supposed she could adore this granddaughter. Maybe never to the extent of Regina as she did not know Zelena as a child, which for her was tragic. Children were her weakness, but this family seemed to be growing on her and could easily be a weakness she embraced. She wanted to know Zelena, was upset to have missed her childhood, and wanted desperately to adore her because that feeling brought her joy.

“If you’re willing to give me a chance, it would be quite easy. If you’re going to continue on with your ‘woe is me’ story, I have no interest. I’m exhausted with your whining and I’ve only just gotten here.” Lilith gave her a little sneer, like the air was foul in the room.

Zelena scowled. “Why should Regina get you, too?” 

“Isn’t it obvious? Because Regina appreciates me, as I do her. What do you want, Zelena? Have you ever stopped to think about it?” Lilith inquired.

“I’ve done nothing but think about it all my life!” Zelena roared, punching her bedding. 

Lilith shook her head. “No. I don’t mean when you’re angry and riled up. In quiet moments of your life, have you ever stopped and thought about what you really want? What would make you content? When you’re not being ruled by your emotions, have you ever stopped and considered what would enrich your life? Not necessarily make you happy or even make the pain stop, but make the world shine again?”

“Revenge would make the world shine again,” Zelena insisted.

Lilith sighed and shook her head. “No, it wouldn’t. I’ve lived many thousands of years, Zelena, and I know it doesn’t give the world shine. It might make you happy for a while and even make the pain stop for a while, but the world will remain grey. What would make the sun come out for you? Have you ever thought of that?”

Zelena swallowed. She had undoubtedly never noticed the sun was missing from her world. She never took the time to notice, but it was gone. This was the same with Regina, except Regina realized the sun had gone away and chased things she had hoped would replace it, not wanting to be lost in the dark, but lost just the same. Zelena had allowed the darkness to suck her in without taking time to realize she had lost all of the light she had even known.

“Zelena, truly, have you thought of what you want? What you really want? Not just a bandage to cover the wound, but something to heal the wound,” Lilith pressed.

Zelena took a deep breath and scowled. “I’ve done nothing but think about it all day yesterday.” She put a hand to her belly and took another breath. “I’ve thought of this and how low you say I’ve sunk and I hate that you’re right. How could I have done something like this, purposely gotten pregnant just to hurt Regina, like this child means nothing beyond that?” She sniffled.

Lilith took a breath and studied Zelena. It was odd to see her serious, sane, and genuine above all else. She had actually gotten through to Zelena.

“Why am I so upset with Regina?” Zelena wondered aloud, putting a hand to her forehead. The hand traveled down her face and she wiped her mouth. 

“Why was she so upset with Snow White?” Lilith countered with a shrug.

“Bad genes?” She had the nerve to bat her eyelashes at Lilith. 

Lilith frowned a little. “Those are divine genes you’re mocking and the whole reason you are able to do magic so well.” Possibly also the reason she and Regina were such smart-asses, so she would let it slide a little bit.

“Regina and I are quite alike in many regards, hmm?” 

Lilith shrugged. “I said you were. I think if you give her a chance, you could grow to get along with her as she has with Snow. It’ll take time and small steps… or a couple of villains attacking the town and you helping.” 

Zelena bared her teeth a little. “Helping.” She shuddered, like the word tasted foul in her mouth.

“Yes, it didn’t sit well with Regina at first either. Not that it matters. You want to be with your family, yes?” 

There was subtle, rather calm quiet in the room. Lilith did not have to press now, as she knew the answer anyway. The trouble with Zelena was that she never allowed herself any real quiet moments. There was always movement and plotting and scheming to be done. She never needed to sort herself out, never bothered to try. Lilith realized her family was not very big on being self-aware.

Zelena released a heavy sigh. “I think… I’d like to try.”

Lilith nodded. This made sense. “It’s why you joined that witch council. You want to belong. Well, we should all belong to a family. We all want to belong to a family.”

Zelena laughed, sounding a little hysterical. “I miss my mother.” She yelped and put her hand over her mouth as soon as the words were out.

Lilith gave her a patient smile, knowing Zelena did not mean to blurt that out. Like Regina when she went mad, maybe this was just part of some very delayed mourning. Zelena never properly mourned her very caring mother, from what Lilith could tell from Zelena’s thoughts. She needed to move on with life in some way.

“She was a good woman from what I tell with your thoughts. She would want you to be with your sister and raise your child right, yes?” Lilith asked.

Sighing, Zelena nodded as she ran her hand through her hair. “She often apologized to me when I was little, saying how sorry she was she couldn’t give me a brother or sister to play with. I suppose since she seemed so sick with sorrow over this, I assumed it was a big deal to be able to have a child. That’s why I used this little one to mock Regina. She can’t have children.” 

“No, but she can adopt, just as your mother did. She can also give a child a good home, as your mother did.” It was a relief to know she had gotten through to Zelena. 

Zelena looked away for a moment and wrapped her arms around her stomach. “Was… was your daughter so terrible?”

Lilith’s mouth ticked downward. Cora was not the worst child she had ever had, but she could not help being disappointed in her. Her abandonment of Zelena was now definitely her number one sin. Her treatment of Regina had been disgusting, but to leave a helpless babe for being unable to help her climb the social ladder, Lilith could not wrap her mind around this. In thousands of years and hundreds of children, Lilith had never walked away from one of her own as a baby. 

“Cora was not the best mother,” Lilith managed in a controlled tone. “In a small measure, she might have done you a favor. You should be more than happy with the mother you had. Be happy some damned imp didn’t want to use you in his twisted schemes and be happy you have a sister. Good family is hard to come by and I think you two could be good for each other.”

Zelena’s eyes drifted around the room and her fingers fidgeted against each other. “Will you tell Regina?” 

“I will.”

“And you will get me out of here?” Zelena asked, her voice a little small. 

“I will try. You know it’s up to Regina and you’ll have to show her your heart. After all, she’s not telepathic… or well, I suppose you can call me an empath.” 

Zelena frowned, maybe a little unaware of her own emotions. Being locked in the cell for the night and left to those just thoughts Lilith put in her head, maybe her true feelings had finally had a chance to settle. Whatever the case, Zelena was ready to put down her burden, which was good. She would have heavier things to worry about as her pregnancy progressed and then when the baby was born.

“How did things come to this?” Zelena wondered aloud.

“How do things ever come to anything? You get complacent or you get tunnel vision until you can’t see the forest for the trees,” Lilith replied with a sigh. She got complacent and Rumple had gotten the best of her. This would never happen again. 

“You’ll come again tomorrow?” Zelena looked at her with big, lonely eyes. She looked a little haunted, perhaps by her own grief, actions, and confusion.

“I’ll come every day until you’re outside and I’ll come even more then,” Lilith vowed. She meant it. How Cora could have two children who fascinated her was beyond her. After all, Cora had not seemed special to her in the slightest. Whatever the reasons, Lilith wanted to know Zelena as well as she did Regina.

-8-8-8-8-

Emma found she could not keep her hands to herself now that she and Regina had admitted to having feelings for each other. She needed to be touching Regina now, usually about the hips, ass, or stomach. Regina worked on dinner, since she would have guests, with Emma plastered to her. Actually, Emma had been plastered to her all day, but she still managed to wash dishes, straighten up the living room, and do other household chores. Cooking with Emma on her was a little more challenging, though.

“It feels good, right to hold you,” Emma admitted, kissing the back of Regina’s neck. This was something she had longed for in New York and it drove her into the arms of Walsh. 

Regina just made a noise, agreeing. Emma chuckled. Okay, so Regina was now going to play it cool, like this was nothing something they both wanted. Well, Emma would not let her be so nonchalant. She nuzzled Regina’s neck and nipped at the skin, finding this could quite easily become a new favorite pastime. And then Regina cooed and moaned, which cemented this as a new fav. 

“You’re going to make me burn dinner. Why don’t you make yourself useful?” Regina said while putting a hand to Emma’s cheek. She gently caressed the area for a moment.

Emma pressed herself against Regina’s back and nuzzled her neck a bit more. “I think I am being useful. I’m fulfilling both of our dreams.” 

Regina groaned and Emma just smiled against her skin. This was better than she could have ever imagined it, not that she imagined it. She had done her best not to think about this when it seemed like it was out of reach. But, now, here she was, holding Regina.

“Right now, my dream is to not burn down the house,” Regina remarked. 

Emma chuckled. “Fine. I’ll help. This is a dream of mine as well.” A literal dream. Sometimes when she was asleep or even when she was awake back in New York, she would imagine doing simple things with this shadow in her mind that turned out to be Regina. 

Working together, they got things done quickly. Every now and then, Emma spotted Regina just watching her, usually out of the corner of her eye. It would seem she was intrigued by the legacy she had left Emma. Emma did her best to show off, wanting Regina to know her memories had not gone in vain and their son had been fine with just her during their time in New York. 

“Well, everything’s in the oven. Now, what?” Emma asked, trying her best to not grin, but a smirk sneaked through.

“You are quite proficient in the kitchen,” Regina noticed. 

Emma could not help preening at the slight praise. _Oh, god, she’d got me wrapped around her little finger already_. She could already hear taunts from Ruby about her being whipped. “Thanks to you. I still can’t believe you just gave me all of your memories. It’s very intimate thing.” It still touched her in ways she doubted she would ever be able to describe.

Regina did not dispute that. “I knew they were in good hands and you’d appreciate them.”

Emma inhaled and then pulled Regina to her. She held her tightly. “Appreciate doesn’t even begin to cover it. Getting an idea of what you went through raising Henry by yourself… it makes me love you more.”

Regina smiled at her and ran her hand through blond locks. She opened her mouth, like she was about to say something, but closed it. Instead, she pulled Emma to her and kissed her firmly. Emma returned the show of affection with passion. When they pulled away, Regina just sort of stared at her with a small smile playing on her lips.

“The fact that you didn’t kill him makes me love you all the more,” she joked. 

Emma gave her a toothy grin. “He had that covered himself.”

Regina sighed. “I need to talk to him about that time.” 

“I think we need to talk to him in general. It’s not just each other we haven’t had time to talk to.”

Regina nodded. Talking definitely did not seem to be this family’s strong point, but now Emma was determined to change that. Talking about things was awesome. It got her the best gal after all.

“Until then, how about you tell me about your life with him in New York,” Regina requested.

Emma had no problem with that. They settled on the couch, cuddled up, and Emma went into the grand tales of what happened in New York, like how Henry had a habit of getting lost on the train. She talked about all of his favorite places and the places Regina would definitely love to see with him. 

“One day, you have to let him take you to the Museum of Natural History. He went at least six times in the year we were there. He played tour guide each time. I think he actually lived in the library,” Emma remarked.

Regina smiled. “I’m glad he got to live a good, normal life and found the time to get some culture.”

“Yeah, I kept wondering ‘whose kid is this?’ when he was wandering museums and stuck in the library. I didn’t even know what to think when he started asking questions about free shows at Lincoln Center and the Met. Seriously, whose kid is this? Now, I know.” Emma glanced over at Regina’s packed, neat bookshelves and then back at Regina, whose eyes watered. Now, it was Emma’s turn to caress Regina’s cheek. “He never stopped being the kid you raised, you know? You made my memories yours, but there were seriously times when I doubted them because you did things different than how I would’ve done them, but then I just dismissed it because it obviously worked. When there’s no Curse to break or villain lurking about, Henry is this regular, amazing kid. I can’t thank you enough for that.”

Regina sniffled and a tear escaped. She did not bother to wipe it away. “Even though I made him think he was crazy?” 

Emma squinted a bit and searched her mind, rubbing her forehead. “You know… those years are missing.” 

Smiling, Regina shook her head. “Well, of course they are. You had no need for them, so from eight to ten, those are still mine and mine alone.” She tapped the center of her head.

Emma could not believe not only had Regina given her such great memories, but she kept the bad ones for herself. Maybe it was just something for Regina to hold onto, something private, but Emma doubted it. They had already been to the point where Regina did her best to protect Emma and Henry when she passed on those memories. Regina kept the pain for herself and gave Emma all the happy.

“You can share your burden, you know? I mean, all you gave me was that he was obsessed with fairy tales and you made it seem like he was writing his own book, which he started doing when we got to New York because I guess you put those memories in his head,” Emma said.

Regina nodded. “I did. He had no use for memories of arguing with me or being angry over being adopted, so those memories needed to go and I was able to replace them with his love for fantasy. I think it went well with his comic books and things.” 

Emma put her hand to Regina’s cheek again and caressed her face with her thumb. Regina was soft and she never wanted to stop touching her. She could not see how Robin actually walked away from Regina at any time, but then again, he had not really done so the first time, chasing her when she did not want to be chased, and the second time he had “his wife” by his side. _Men_.

“You took care of us that year, you know. I couldn’t have done that with Henry without you,” Emma said.

Regina padded Emma’s knee. “You’re strong, Emma. You’d have found a way.”

Emma was not so sure that was true, but Regina seemed to believe it as the truth. That was good enough for her. Regina believed in her, had faith in her. Without thinking, she pressed her lips to Regina’s. How had they gone so long without doing this?

Emma was not sure how long they sat on the couch, making out like a couple of horny teenagers, but it had to be a pretty long time and it was time well spent in her opinion. The door opened and closed, signaling the arrival of Lilith and Henry. Still, they could hardly be bothered to pull away. The most they could manage was to stop kissing and Regina had to put herself back on the couch instead of sitting in Emma’s lap.

“I hope you two are at the least decent,” Lilith announced before entering the living room. 

They were decent in the sense that they were still fully clothed, but definitely not in the sense to hide what they were doing. They were still cuddled close, their hair a mess, their clothing wrinkled, and their hands definitely not to themselves. If Emma’s face was half as flushed as Regina’s and her lips as swollen, then there was no hiding what they had been up to. As soon as Henry saw them, he flinched and turned away like he had been shot. Emma was not sure whether to be insulted or amused.

“Are you guys kissing? Gross!” Henry covered his eyes with his entire forearm.

“Yes, Henry, your mothers have finally accepted their feelings for each other, their obvious want to be a family, and like all parents must embarrass you now,” Lilith remarked, patting him on the back. 

Henry looked at them over his arm. “Wait, seriously?”

“Yeah, kid,” Emma replied, not sure about his reaction.

“That’s awesome!” He pretty much threw himself on his mothers, catching them in a bear hug. They both groaned while he let out a weird squeal of joy. “So, we get to be a family. Emma, are you moving in? Do we get to have breakfast at the table like this morning all the time? Mom still helps me with my homework, but Emma, you could teach me to drive in the Bug because it’s a stick and they say it’s good to know and we can all watch movies and order pizza and go on trips and have like parties over here and… and… and!” His chest heaved from his excitement.

“So, this is something you want?” Regina asked, trying to move her head enough to look at him.

Henry grinned. “Yeah, ever since Neverland, but then we got split up and even though my memories were gone… well, you were still there, Mom, in my heart.” He patted his chest with his whole hand. “And, for that year in New York, it always felt like something was missing. When Mom… Emma… got engaged to Walsh, it actually felt even more pronounced. It was like she was trying to replace someone, even though my brain kept insisting no one was ever there. My heart knew, though. My heart knew and it hurt.” He tapped the center of his chest again and swallowed so loud they heard it.

Regina sniffled and pulled Henry in for another hug. It looked like she might never let go. It was good for both of them, though. So much had happened since the Curse broke and they had barely had time to process it, let alone actually talk about it and heal from it. But, this looked like the start of something kind of wonderful.

Henry pulled away, probably realizing Regina was crying. He just smiled at her, that cute smile where his eyes danced and his mouth drew up to one side a little bit. Regina laughed. Henry sat down in between them and Lilith sort of faded out of the room. Regina wiped her eyes and gave Henry a smile, probably to reassure him that she was all right.

“Mom, I’m not sorry about the Curse breaking,” Henry stated, looking at her, but his hands gripped his pants tightly.

“And you shouldn’t be,” Regina replied, no longer crying. She rubbed Henry’s back, possibly to assure him he was right in what he did or just to touch him in general.

He bit his bottom lip. “But, I’m sorry I took you for granted, though. I’m sorry I didn’t consider the consequences.”

Regina gave him a watery smile. “Apparently, you come by this honestly. Henry, I don’t hold any of that against you. Your actions helped bring me to where I am right now, where I’m healthy enough to sit across from you and be grateful you broke the Curse, and where I can somehow admit to loving your other mother. Your execution needs work, but you got the job done.”

Henry laughed and leaned over, giving Emma a high five. “Savior junior, in training.”

“Stick to being the Author for now, kid,” Emma remarked. “This savior gig is pretty tough unless you get an awesome sidekick.” She gave Regina a smirk.

Regina looked absolutely scandalized. “Sidekick? I believe I’ve done all the hard work thus far.”

“What? I helped in the mine. And who found Henry to allow you to rip Pan’s heart out, hmm?” Emma pointed out with a lopsided grin. Regina only shook her head and they were silent for a while.

“I really want this, Moms,” Henry announced. “This is everything.” He made a circle gesture. “For all of us.” They all needed healing and support to deal with traumas. This was undoubtedly the best way to do it because they all loved each other and wanted to help each other.

Regina nodded. “Yes, Henry, I agree. This is what we were all denied for too long.” It was a little bananas to hear Regina admit this for Henry. After all, she had been his mother for ten years and seemed to do a decent job, not counting the “made him think he was crazy” time and, well, maybe his isolation was a little her fault, trying to hold on too tight.

“Yeah. This is everything,” Emma agreed with Henry.

“So, no running away, no pushing away, and no whatever else we generally do that screws up good things,” Henry stated with a strong nod.

“And we have to learn that having different opinions doesn’t mean we don’t love each other,” Emma added.

“And just because we’re denied something by one doesn’t mean we don’t love each other,” Regina said.

“It’s a deal,” Henry declared.

And just like that, they were a family. Or maybe they were always a family. It was hard to tell when it started, but that did not matter as long as it did not end.

The discussion was over for the moment, as Regina got up to check on the food. Emma stayed with Henry, even though she really wanted to follow Regina and help, or not help. Henry needed a check in, though. 

“You okay with this, kid?” Emma asked to be sure, throwing an arm around his broadening shoulders. What happened to the little guy who popped up on her birthday a couple of years ago?

He nodded. “Yeah, just don’t screw it up. You know how fragile Mom is.” 

Emma laughed, but it sounded just as awkward as it felt. He was right. Regina was glass and she was a bull in a china shop most of the time. She needed to try, though. They could not go back to what they were before, not now. She needed Regina and she was fairly certain Regina needed her.

“Don’t worry. I won’t break her heart,” Emma promised.

“Yeah, but you can’t be super-reckless anymore either. Next thing you know, Mom’ll banish everyone to Candyland if something happens to you.” 

Emma wanted to laugh again, but this time she could not even muster that. The idea that Regina might break again if something happened to her was a little overwhelming. She knew what Regina did for people she loved. She cast Dark Curses, ripped out the hearts of immortals, and crossed back over moral horizons to wield light magic. 

“It’s okay, Henry. Maybe I’m not as grand as she is when it comes to this stuff, but I got the one thing she needs,” Emma said.

Henry’s face scrunched up. “What?” 

“I ain’t going anywhere. I’m here and I’m staying here. I’ll appreciate her every day and even when I piss her off…”

He cut in. “And you will and she’ll do the same to you.” 

“Yeah, but that’s our thing. I’m here for her and I’m pretty sure she’s here for me and we’re both here for you. We all have each other’s backs and I think it’ll always be like that.”

He grinned. She wondered if he had a little pep talk to give Regina, too. She knew she should not think like that, but she could not help it.

Maybe Henry had some of the “mind-reading” power Lilith had because he got up and went to the kitchen. He came back a couple of minutes later and sat down. She looked at him while he grinned.

“So, first, I told her not to assume the worst with you, especially if you say something because you’re all action and reaction. Then, I told her to make sure she holds onto you real tight, but not too tight because you’re liable to wiggle away,” Henry remarked. 

“We’ll learn as we go,” she replied, feeling a swell of emotion within her. She was just as important to him as Regina was.

Nodding, he smiled. “Yeah, but I think you guys needed an intro course to each other just to remind you what you have here.”

Emma laughed, even though she doubted she would ever forget. They worked too hard for this. Besides, if Lilith was around, she probably would just lock them in a room again if they started messing up. But, it was best not to count on that.

-8-8-8-8-

Regina was a little surprised when Snow and David arrived on time for dinner with their young son. She was certain they would find some excuse not to come again. But, maybe their bit of shared intelligence overrode their fear of Lilith. Or maybe they just realized her nana truly meant no harm.

Speaking of her grandmother, Lilith literally appeared before Snow and David the moment they stepped into the house. “Is this the baby? He’s so adorable,” she cooed. She took Neal into her arms and walked off.

Snow opened her mouth, like she wanted to say something, possibly object, but it was too late. Lilith was gone, deeper into the house, with the child in hand. Regina gave her a sympathetic smile.

“I think Nana has a weakness for babies. He’ll be fine,” Regina promised.

“Doesn’t she…” Snow could not even finish the thought, but the look on her face said it all.

“No, she doesn’t do that. It’s just a myth that she kills babies,” Regina replied. Her nana really adored babies, so it was really a shame for the stories to get things so twisted about her.

Snow only nodded. David could not even do that, eyes tracking his son through the house. Regina motioned for them to come all the way in. She led them to the dining room where Lilith was already sitting with baby Neal and making cooing noises at him. 

“Hard to believe she’s some all powerful dark demon, huh?” Henry remarked, speaking to Emma.

“Yeah, I can’t see her devouring a soul while playing peek-a-boo,” Emma chuckled. 

“I don’t get it, Nana. I mean, you’re thousands of years old, right?” Henry asked. His mothers and grandmother groaned.

“Henry, you don’t ask a lady her age,” Regina scolded him. 

Lilith smiled. “It’s quite all right. Yes, Henry, I am. And, no, I’m not particularly enamored with any of my offspring or their offspring in the way I am with everyone here. Regina was my first descendent in a long time I had been fascinated by beyond her infancy and I think it was because she was so different.”

“Different?” Emma asked, taking a seat near the head of the table, which was where Regina would sit.

“Nana.” Regina did not want her grandmother telling tall tales about her or trying to change minds with drivel. 

“What? As a baby, I was delighted with her, but not overly fascinated. It wasn’t until my little filly turned about three that I realized something was different,” Lilith said.

“Magic?” Henry guessed. 

“Oh, no. All of my descendents have magic in some form or another. Some more than others, as you’ve seen with Zelena, but no. Regina had already showed signs of magic, but what she didn’t show signs of was the selfishness. What the humans in the Enchanted Forest labeled as ‘dark’ in their behavior. Regina didn’t have that.”

“Nana,” Regina hissed. She would not abide by lies at the table, even from her grandmother.

“What? It’s true. Yes, you had a child’s mischief and misunderstanding of the world, which leads many children to explore in all the wrong ways until they figure things out. But, no, you… you were just a child. That I hadn’t seen in a long time in my family. It was intriguing and I delighted in it for all those years until you were taken from me. To watch and see even Cora could not take the light out your eyes… I was impressed.”

“And then you got banned,” Henry said. 

Lilith waved that off. “Well, it was my own carelessness. I thought I could just go home and return as I had for her entire life until that point. But, Regina still fascinates me. Your corruption took more effort than it should have and then you were able to pull away from it. Yes, it took years and so much pain, but lives don’t mean the same to me as they do to you.” Lilith even shrugged before she went back to cooing at the baby. 

“Can we talk about something else?” Regina requested. The conversation was awkward at best and obviously not going to get any better if her nana started touting her lack of human morals.

“Fine.” Lilith sighed and then turned to the Charmings. “Why Neal?” She asked this as if it was the most normal thing in the world and the perfect segway from the other topic of conversation. 

Regina groaned. Her nana would be the death of her. Yes, it was a valid inquiry, but everyone had managed to keep it to themselves.

“Excuse me?” Snow’s voice shrill and her eyes wide. 

Lilith carried on like Snow was not clearly insulted. “So many other names to choose from and you picked Neal. Why?”

“He saved us all. He gave the ultimate sacrifice, not once, but twice. He deserved to be honored,” David stated.

“I’m sorry. What was the first sacrifice?” Lilith asked and then she tickled under Neal’s chin. He laughed and drooled, which got a smile out of her.

“He pushed Emma to come to Storybrooke. August told us all about it,” Snow explained.

“He what?” Emma growled with fire in her eyes. She balled her hands into tight fists, but released them as Regina patted her thigh. 

“Nana, are you trying to ruin dinner before it begins?” Regina asked, as that seemed to be the goal here.

“No, just encouraging more talking is all,” Lilith replied with an innocent smile.

“Well, if this ends with any more make-outs, I’m leaving,” Henry declared, throwing up his hands. 

“Who was making out?” Snow’s face drew back in confusion.

“Well, how else were they supposed to break my curse on the door?” Lilith asked.

“Nana!” Regina hid her face in her hands. This woman would be the death of her by the end of the week. She was sure of it.

“You never said it was a curse. You said you put a spell on the door,” David huffed, giving Lilith a well-deserved glare. 

“A curse is a type of spell,” Lilith replied with an amused smile.

“Okay, Regina, can we serve the food or teleport ourselves to the moon? Something?” Emma requested.

While the moon sounded nice at the moment, her nana would be able to follow, so Regina settled on serving. Emma helped and so they had to deal with stares from Snow and David the whole time. Thankfully, they did not say anything. But, things were still a little tense.

“So, Nana, are you the reason Mom can do magic? Because you’re her grandmother?” Henry asked as he began eating. _Thank you, Henry, for picking a less sensitive topic_ , Regina internally sighed. 

“Well, yes and no. There’s different types of magic, of course. Anyone can do potions, as that’s simple chemistry. Anyone can also learn to manipulate the energies around them with enough concentration, practice, and instruction. But, your mother is genetically and biologically predisposed to magic. So, she can produce magic right from her body with less effort than some. It shows itself in other ways,” Lilith answered.

“So, is Emma genetically predisposed to it, too? Or it just because she’s the product of True Love?” Henry asked. 

“Emma’s also genetically predisposed to it. Haven’t you ever wondered why Snow White can talk to birds?” Lilith countered.

“I’m not a witch,” Snow objected.

“Of course not. But, somewhere down the line you had a magical ancestor and that has manifested in you being able to talk to animals. Regina used to do it when she was younger, too. She was the little horse whisperer,” Lilith replied.

“So, I’m not magic because I’m the savior or True Love or any of that crap?” Emma asked with a wrinkled forehead.

“No, all those things factor in, which is why you’re more powerful than your mother in magic. Those things influenced the latent magic inside of you and True Love, the emotions your parents feel for each other, definitely factor into your ability to wield magic,” Lilith answered. 

“So… I could be magic?” Henry asked with a smirk. 

“Calm down, kid. You’re the Author. Good enough,” Emma stated.

It was actually more than Regina liked. She knew all too well how titles meant trouble came looking for you. Hell, look at what happened with Emma being “the Savior.”

Lilith chuckled. “You could be, but that doesn’t mean it’s powerful. If you look at Regina and Zelena as examples. They’re both my descendants, both share the same mother, both had fathers who weren’t magical at all and Zelena was able to do real spells at this little one’s age.” Lilith tickled Neal’s nose and he giggled. “While Regina… well, without guidance the best she could do was talk to a rabbit.”

Regina sneered at her grandmother. Yes, so, Zelena had more raw talent with magic than she did, but who won? Regina had more moxie than Zelena. 

“But, Regina trained and got better while Zelena let talent take her as far as she could,” Lilith added.

“So, if Zelena trained she could get better just like Mom and Emma?” Henry said.

“The key to anything, dear boy, is practice. So, think of magic as sort of a musical ability. Some are born with it, others work at it, some let their talent drive them, and some push themselves to the limit,” Lilith said.

His brow furrowed as he took this in. “But, music isn’t inherited.”

Lilith shrugged. “Sometimes, it is. All I’m saying, Peanut, is that there are different factors in everything.”

“Peanut?” Emma chimed in.

Henry puffed out his chest. “I got a nickname.” Regina could not help but smile at his pride in this.

“And, Emma, if you don’t watch yourself, you’ll be Sunshine,” Lilith said.

Emma groaned as if that was the worst thing she had ever heard. Putting her hand over her face, Emma sank into her seat a little, trying to hide. “Please, no. Be a normal in-law and don’t like me enough to give a cute nickname. Give me something mocking.”

Lilith chuckled. “No, no, no. I’ll figure out the right one for you. And for this one, too.” Again, she tickled Neal’s nose. More laughter and drool got more smiles from Lilith. “He is so cute!”

Regina smiled. Her grandmother giving out nicknames was a sure sign that she liked the person. So, her nana definitely approved of this family. It was good to know. 

The rest of the evening went fairly smoothly. David and Snow loosened up by the time dessert was in from of them. It was actually sad when the night ended, or maybe it was just because Emma left with her parents and brother. She promised to be back in the morning for breakfast, though.

“I’m holding you to that,” Regina whispered as she walked the Charmings to the door. 

Emma smiled. “Hey, if nothing else, the pancakes are worth coming back for.”

“Cheeky,” Regina hissed.

Emma laughed and then leaned in, giving Regina a small kiss. By the time Regina realized she was being kissed, Emma had pulled back. With smiling farewell, Emma went out the door with her parents and brother.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the end.


	8. Into the Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters or the games Cards Against Humanity or Trivia Pursuit. I do own Lilith and I hope you enjoyed her.

I don’t own these characters or the games Cards Against Humanity or Trivia Pursuit. I do own Lilith and I hope you enjoyed her.

8: Into the Light

Regina sighed and went to clean up once the Charmings were gone. Henry went to get ready for bed without being told. Lilith helped the cleanup by using magic, of course. Regina did not object and Henry was not around to make a fuss about it. 

“How about we sit and talk for a while? I want to try this cider you always brag about,” Lilith remarked, making her way to Regina’s study.

Chuckling, Regina went to pour while her grandmother sat on her chaise. Regina watched her grandmother for a moment and felt like she could understand why her mother thought she deserved better. Lilith moved like the goddess she was, but Cora did not know about her divine heritage. She had to watch Lilith move and just think she was destined for greatness.

Regina handed her nana a glass and watched as she took her first sip. A small smile tugged at her lips and Regina felt pride flood her. She eased into her own chair and Lilith locked eyes with her.

“I suppose you’re not guilty of false advertisement,” Lilith quipped, tipping the tumbler to Regina.

“Well, that’s a relief,” Regina joked, rolling her eyes.

Lilith made a humming sound, tapping her fingers against the cider glass. “Are we all right, filly?”

“You know the answer to that, Nana.”

“Yes, but sometimes even _I_ need verbal confirmation.”

“Yes, Nana, we’re fine. I’m very happy to see you again. It’s good to know you didn’t voluntarily vanish from my life.” She remembered when she was younger, her mother would tell her that Nana did not want to see her anymore because she did not listen, because she was not good. She had done her best to listen to her mother and be good because she did not want her mother to leave her like Nana had done.

“Never, dear. I love you with all the intensity a god can muster. I’m sure I will love your family the same.” Lilith sipped her cider. “Have you considered adding to it?”

Gasping, Regina’s eyes went wide for a moment. “Nana!”

Lilith laughed lightly, obviously proud of herself. “Not that way, filly. I’ve seen Zelena the past couple of days.”

Regina frowned. “And how is my darling sister?”

Lilith tapped her fingers against her glass again. “A little more subdued than you’ll remember. She’s ready to settle down. I know you have to work out the details between her and Robin and everything, but I think it’s time for you to embrace having a sister.”

It was something Regina thought about on rare, quiet moments, especially after defeating Zelena. Something inside of her wanted to accept Zelena. She assumed it was longing from when she was a child, wanting a sibling her mother never seemed interested in providing. Maybe she wanted some kind of familial connection, but that should be satisfied with her grandmother.

“That’s up to her,” Regina replied. She would not reject Zelena should the impossible happen and Zelena suddenly decided Regina deserved to live and decided they could even coexist.

Lilith sighed and then sipped her cider. “Yes, I assume it is. I know she hurt you, but you seem to be able to move forward. Help her move forward, if not for her then for the baby.”

Regina chuckled. “You just want me to do this for the baby.”

Lilith smiled. “I really do have a fondness for human babies. Adorable little things. I look forward to kissing chubby cheeks.”

“Yes, well, don’t suck any of their souls,” Regina teased.

Lilith scowled. “Such a distasteful interpretation as to what I do.”

Regina nodded. “At least they don’t have you cutting the heart out of an eight-year-old for being prettier than you.”

With a sour expression, Lilith shook her head. “What the hell is wrong with this realm?”

Regina did not have any answers, not that her nana expected any. Her thoughts drifted to her sister. From the moment she heard of Zelena to now, she never figured out how to feel about her. She should have wanted this older sister, desperately, but instead jumped immediately to wanting to destroy her. But, even then did not have it in her.

“Sort your feelings out after you meet with her and judge for yourself that she’s worthy of your time. None of us will judge you if you decide to walk away,” Lilith said.

Regina nodded as that was the best advice she had gotten when it came to Zelena. She trusted her grandmother’s faith in Zelena, too. Her nana would not have brought this up if she did not believe Zelena wanted to build a healthier relationship between them. It would probably be nice, but she did not want to get her hopes up.

-8-8-8-8-

Emma returned for breakfast as promised and just like before, Henry and Lilith were out the door as soon as it was over. Regina and Emma watched them go. Regina felt good about this for the first time. Her grandmother and son were bonding and she was bonding with Emma.

“You know, maybe one day… I could cook,” Emma proposed as they cleaned up the table.

Regina would like to see that. “Or we could cook together again.” That had been a pleasant experience she would not mind repeating.

“Yeah, that was cool. This talking thing is cool, too.”

Regina nodded, but she frowned slightly “We can’t tell my nana that, though. She’s hard enough to live with as it is.”

Emma laughed. “Yeah, I don’t think I’ll be admitting anything to her. I was actually happy she asked about the baby’s name. I can’t believe August told them Neal sent me here and they fell for that bullshit.”

Regina moved around Emma to load the dishes into the dishwasher. “After speaking with Robin, I’ve come to learn that our people will believe and hold onto some of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard.”

“Our people…” This made Emma laugh for some reason. “Do you think I should talk to them about this ‘stupid’ stuff? I mean, there’s all of this crap I don’t understand, but I feel like they don’t understand so much stuff about me either.”

Sighing, Regina looked at Emma. “I’d like to think we both learned the same lesson from Nana’s curse.”

Emma pouted a bit. “Yeah, talking helps. I know. I know. I’ll talk to them eventually. I guess I just needed someone to tell me to do it.”

“Okay, then talk to your parents,” Regina stated.

With a nod and another laugh, Emma smiled at her. “You need a pep talk of any kind?”

Regina sighed. “Zelena.”

Emma flinched. “Uh… she’s nuts.”

“Yes, she is, but I think Nana really wants us to get on and I think she’s gotten to Zelena already. If she has, I don’t think I want to be the one to hold us back.” Regina was not sure that made sense.

Emma moved, taking hold of Regina and pulling them close. It seemed like it was about time for touching. Emma rested her hands on Regina’s hips and Regina held Emma around the waist. And, of course, Emma had to kiss her, which she accepted quite well. One kiss became two and soon, they were making out again in the middle of the kitchen with the dishwasher half-full.

“You make a compelling argument,” Regina remarked as they pulled away for air.

Emma brought a hand up to caress Regina’s cheek. “Enough for me to take you out on a date? I kinda wanna do this as properly as I can.”

“Sounds nice. I’d also like to see how you handle that.”

Emma smiled. “Oh, I bet I could plan a date better than you.”

Now, Regina laughed. Of course Emma would make it into a competition. But, she was never one to back down.

“We’ll see,” Regina replied, and she sort had her decision with Zelena. She never backed down, after all.

-8-8-8-8-

Regina stared at the door to Zelena’s cell. In the past, she walked in that room with such confidence, even though she knew Zelena would do her best to be an ass and be annoying. Still, Regina had always felt in control of the situation. Now, she felt out of control, hell out of her element and out her mind as well, but she marched in any way.

Zelena’s head snapped in her direction as soon as Regina stepped through the door. Immediately, Regina noticed something different in Zelena’s eyes, but it was gone fairly quickly. Disappointment replaced whatever the other emotion had been.

“Expecting Nana?” Regina asked.

“She promised to come daily and she hasn’t come yet,” Zelena replied.

“Yes, she’ll be here later. She wanted us to have…” Regina held back a groan. “...time together.” She looked around the cell as she wrapped her arms around herself. She let her hands rest against her elbows. “Henry’s showing her his favorite comic book store while she babysits for the Charmings.”

An eyebrow ticked up for a moment. “She’s fond of their son?”

“Fond?” Rolling her eyes, Regina shook her head. “More like over the moon. I imagine your child will have her wrapped around his little finger the moment he’s born.”

Zelena made a noise and then silence surrounded them for a long while. “I don’t suppose you’ll be letting me out.”

“No time soon, no. But, Nana seems to think we should try to come to an understanding. I’m sure she’d like you out before the baby is born,” Regina answered.

There was that silence again. “How do we come to an understanding that doesn’t involve killing each other?”

Regina took a deep breath. “I think… we just take it one step at a time, one moment at a time. I’ve learned… it doesn’t always have to be a war.”

Zelena shook her head. “Doesn’t it? I’ve been fighting my whole life.” 

“As have I.” And she was tired of it.

Scoffing, Zelena had the nerve to roll her eyes. “Oh, please! You had precious Nana there.” 

“Until I was eight! After her, I had no one and she wasn’t there every moment of every day. What makes you think I had this charmed life? Why do you so badly want to be me? You think you could’ve pleased Mother or even resisted Rumple’s pull to the madness? Did you want to be Queen so badly?” Regina demanded. 

This never made sense to her. What part of life was so amazing that Zelena wanted in? Up until recently, Regina felt like she would have probably switched places with dozens of people, yet Zelena wanted her extremely messed up life.

“Mother wanted everything for you,” Zelena hissed.

“Mother wanted everything for _her_. This is why you were tossed aside, why I was forced to watch my first love die before my eyes, and why I had to spend the better part of my life underneath a man who smelled of stale ale and decay whilst being a doll for his daughter. None of what Mother did was for either of us and if you can’t accept that small truth then there’s nothing for us.” 

Zelena’s jaw tensed, as if she never thought of it like this. Regina could not see how she never thought of it like this. If Zelena knew so much about her life, why would she want it? As usual, Zelena made no sense.

“Maybe you should go,” Zelena said. 

“If I go now…” Regina took a breath, like she needed to steel herself to say this. “If we leave it like this… I’m not coming back.” She refused to waste her time. She had her Nana back in her life, she had revealed her feelings for Emma, and her son was finally happy with her again. There were too many good things right now for her to entertain Zelena and her senseless grudge.

Zelena scowled. “You’ll still have to share Nana with me.” 

“Nana’s her own person and she does what she wants. I’m not playing games with you, though, Zelena,” Regina replied. At the end of the day, Nana would always return to her and she would have to share Nana anyway, not just with Zelena, but with Henry and definitely Baby Charming.

“If Nana likes me enough, she’ll spring me.” 

Regina chuckled. “Nana’s not going to ‘spring’ you. She’ll visit and she might even convince me to put you into more hospitable accommodations once you have the baby, but she’ll never let you leave wherever I put you, Zelena. I hope that wasn’t your escape plan because it won’t ever work.” She walked to the door and put her hand on the knob.

“Wait,” Zelena called out. 

Regina sighed. “What?”

“Did you…” Zelena licked her lips. “Have you… ever wanted a sister?” She looked at Regina for a moment and then had to look away. 

Regina let loose a low breath. “Sometimes.” Not recently, though. Zelena had taken all the shine off of having a sibling. Maybe an older brother would have been the way to go.

Zelena took a breath. “Me, too.”

Regina turned back. “And yet this was our start.”

“Nana says we’re similar… We lash out when we don’t know what to do.”

Regina could not argue that, but Zelena seemed to be reaching. Turning around, Regina conjured a chair. She sat down in front of Zelena, staring her directly in the eye.

“So, let’s change the pattern. Talk to me instead of hunting me. Let me talk back instead of baiting me,” Regina stated. 

“Then what shall we talk about?”

“Little things, nonsense things. Like, was green always your favorite color even before the…” Regina gestured to her face.

Zelena sucked her teeth and for a second Regina thought she would not respond. “I’ve always been fond of green. And you? Have you always had a flair for red or was that after you decided to bathe in the blood of innocents?”

Regina could have been insulted, but this was not a snap. Zelena was actually just teasing, as hard to believe it was possible. Besides, her question had to seem a bit over the line, just as this was. 

“I was fond of brown when I was younger, particularly tawny browns or chestnuts,” Regina replied and Zelena arched an eyebrow at her. “Horses were once my life, before bathing in the blood of innocents became my hobby.”

Zelena actually laughed, without sounding demented. This was how they survived each other for one afternoon, simple questions with simple answers. If anything required more, they changed the subject.

-8-8-8-8-

While Regina managed to get her necessary talking underway almost immediately, it took Emma months. Regina, Henry, and Lilith had to push her into it, too. Henry was especially obnoxious after she and Regina had spoken to him a few times, wanting to make sure he was all right with them being together, wanting to make sure he was all right from Neverland, wanting to make sure he was all right from the Curse breaking, and wanting to make sure his brain was not muddled from two sets of memories. He seemed to be all the better, so now he bugged Emma constantly about talking to her own parents.

Lilith was no better. Sometimes, she seemed as much the child as Henry was. Of course, Regina said the same of Emma. Either way, Lilith volunteered to watch Neal, which freed up the Charmings to meet Emma at the mansion. It would give them some privacy. Regina helped make lunch and then made herself scarce.

“I’ll just be in my office if you need me,” Regina assured her.

Emma sighed and nodded. She wished she could be in the office, too. But, things needed to be said and she could not put them off forever. It would look especially bad if Regina cleared things up with her psycho sister before Emma cleared things up with her sane, though self-righteous, parents. 

“Hey,” Emma greeted her parents at the door of the mansion. She had not officially moved in and probably would not any time soon, but she had a side of the bed in Regina’s room, a side of the closet, and shows on the DVR. Maybe she did not need to officially move in.

“Hey.” Snow grabbed her into a hug and then David hugged her, too. 

“So, how’s the day going being off and kid-free?” Emma asked as they made their way to the dining room.

“Not really kid-free, now, are we?” Snow countered with smile.

Emma chuckled a little and wondered how the hell her parents could press on like things were normal for so long. She was able to do it from distractions. She focused on Regina and Henry. She could stomach her parents in short bursts, but pretending all was well seemed like too much work. 

“So, you wanted to talk?” David said, pulling out a chair for Snow and pushing her in before sitting down himself. He was always chivalrous with her, like it was part of him.

“Yeah. I think we’re due,” Emma admitted. Well, overdue. Hell, if they were library books, they would probably have thousand dollar fines on them.

They did not look too eager for this, though. Their eyes fell to the table. Emma sighed and figured she would get started. _Talking is awesome_ , she reminded herself. It got her good things and made sure her son was fine. 

“Look, there’s a lot between us and I don’t want to act like it’s not affecting us because it does. I mean, you guys may have ruined my friend’s life and I have to look her in the face as she walks around town, trying to get to know the mother you guys stole her from and they’re both fucking it up left and right because they don’t know what the hell to do,” Emma pointed out.

“We did that for you,” Snow insisted. 

“Yeah, but that doesn’t make it better. Not to mention, you tried to take away my free will. Sometimes, I wonder if I do the right thing because I want to or because I _have_ to.” This was something she and Regina stayed up nights talking about. Did either of them have free will? Was life governed by destiny? Was it all written in the stars, or in some stupid storybook? Most nights, they agreed they had some agency as they were together, developed those feelings on their own, and their relationship definitely seemed more like one from this realm than a “happily ever after.” But, still, they wondered.

“We can’t change the past,” David said.

“No, but you can acknowledge it happened and, oh, I dunno, maybe apologize to Lily and her mom? You guys seem to think being the heroes means never having to say you’re sorry. If the ends justify the means, that doesn’t make you heroes,” Emma insisted. 

“We’re just trying to do the right thing,” Snow replied.

Emma sighed. “And when it goes wrong and you leave destruction in your wake, you should apologize. It’s not hard.”

There was a long awkward silence. Emma wondered if her parents even knew how to apologize. Did they really think that everything they did was right and that it should end there? _I might need therapy after this talk_. 

“I’m sorry, Emma,” David suddenly said.

Emma blinked. “Huh?”

“I’m sorry. I’m not sorry for putting you in the wardrobe. Regina’s men were on me and I was sure they’d kill you, so I felt like that saved you. But, I’m sorry for what you went through in life. I’m sorry you think we took away your free will,” he explained and then he looked at Snow.

“Emma, we just wanted the best for you…” Snow started and then David did something Emma never saw before, letting her know he was way more self-aware than he seemed. He gave Snow a hard look. 

“Snow, no more,” he said. “We owe Emma this and so much more. Despite everything we did, she still grew up into this amazing woman and I doubt it’s because we yanked out her darkness in the womb.” He looked at Emma. “We’re proud of you, kiddo, but you’re right.”

Emma almost asked him where this newfound backbone came from, but decided against it. Maybe just like she needed months to have this talk, he needed months to come to terms with things. So, maybe he had not been pretending everything was fine, which was nice to know.

Snow sighed. “I just… I just wanted everything perfect for you.”

Emma shook her head. “Not good enough.” She understood they did what they thought was right, but that would never be good enough. Hell, Regina had done what she thought was right years ago. Most people did. “Here’s the thing, you have to be able to accept and admit you made bad moves. If you can’t do that, then you haven’t learned a thing, you haven’t changed at all, and you’ll keep doing it.”

David took Snow’s hand and gave it a squeeze. It was like she could not admit to being wrong, like it somehow made her less “Snow White.” The truth was denying it made her less everything and Emma was sorely tempted to tell her.

“I am proud of you, Emma…” Snow managed, but it seemed like there was more she wanted to say. She did not say it, though. 

“But, I’m not the kid you imagined you’d have or the kid you wanted. You regret not being able to raise me and you act like it’s my fault?” Emma hoped that would help get her started.

Snow’s eyes went wide, like she was horrified by those words. “Emma… I…”

“Lie to yourself, but don’t lie to me,” Emma stated.

“I’m sorry if that’s how I’ve made you feel…” This was a good start. “I love you and I am disappointed that I wasn’t able to raise. Maybe it comes across as blaming you, but I blame myself. I blame myself for a lot and I try to block it out. There are so many nights I’ve stayed up wishing I never said anything to Cora about Regina’s stable boy, nights I wish I could go back and change the way I handled things with Maleficent. So much went wrong. So much went wrong…” Snow whimpered and shook her head.

This was all Emma needed for now. Just this admission that the holy Charmings were not perfect and understood they had done wrong in this as well. They could move a little bit and discuss other things. They might even get to eat some lunch. 

-8-8-8-8-

“Oh, Hunter, you are so adorable!” Lilith cooed as she took the three-month-old right out of Regina’s arms. 

“Nana!” Regina huffed, reaching for her little niece. She had barely held the baby for a second, as she had only just woken up from a nap.

“‘Gina! ‘Gina! Up, up, up!” Neal called, hands up, making it more than obvious what he wanted. Lilith smiled.

“Nana, this isn’t over,” Regina said, gaze narrowed on her grandmother as she picked up Neal. Neal grinned and giggled all the way up and wrapped around her like a koala as soon as he could. 

“Oh, but I think it is… _Gina_ ,” Lilith replied with a smirk. Regina growled at her. Neal was the only person allowed to call her “Gina” and it was because he could not get her whole name correct yet. The second he could, this “Gina” crap would stop.

“You’re getting too big for this, young man,” Regina teased as Neal cuddled into her.

“No, I still lil!” he declared. He was only two, but he was getting bigger. Regina worried she only had a couple more years she could carry him like this. 

“I got the game!” Henry declared as his whole family gathered in the living room of the mansion. There were snacks and drinks out on the coffee table for Family Game Night. 

“No, you don’t.” Emma plucked the box from him. “First off, we’re not playing Cards Against Humanity with you, Mr. Just-Thirteen-Years-Old. Second, even if we were, I’m not playing Cards Against Humanity with my mother, Snow White.”

“Plus, we should all be scared of anything Zelena might put down,” Regina remarked with Neal still in her arms. 

Rolling her eyes, Zelena scoffed from her armchair. “Says you. I dare not tell everyone how you and your blond stud scarred me for life not even two days ago.”

“Uh, please, don’t!” Henry squeaked, quickly putting his hands over his ears in case Zelena wanted to be wicked.

Thankfully, Zelena had calmed down in the year since Lilith’s arrival. She was even living with Regina, but desperate to find an apartment of her own after walking in on Emma and Regina a few too many times. Of course, it was her own fault for always teleporting into rooms instead of knocking like a normal human being. 

“Yes, please, don’t,” Snow begged as she settled on the couch next to Lilith. “We need something kid-friendly.” She motioned to the babies and then made a face at Hunter. The little girl smiled back.

“I feel like sitting in a room with the Lilith, the Evil Queen, and Wicked Witch… we sort of bypassed kid-friendly many moons ago,” Emma remarked. She took a spot on the floor, close to the snacks and Henry.

The witches all just gave Emma a withering look, which probably would have slain someone who did not spend most of her free time with them. But, then babies distracted all of them and she was in the clear. It was funny to see Zelena had developed this weakness for babies, too, melting at the slightest things Hunter or even Neal did. Maybe that was genetic along with the magic.

“We also bypassed fair play,” David chimed in. He was on the floor, close to the chips that he seemed intent to eat all by himself. Emma decided to dive in before the whole bowl was gone.

“Are you calling us cheaters?” Regina gasped, as if she was truly affronted. She looked at Neal with a shocked face. He giggled and covered his mouth. 

“Can we help it if we just make an excellent team?” Zelena smirked. Over the year, the bonding was slow between her and Regina, but after Hunter’s birth, they seemed to come together a little better. Now, they were an irksome tag team during Game Night.

“An excellent team of cheaters,” Henry remarked. 

“Why Henry! Always against your mother and aunt.” Zelena wrinkled her nose at him.

“I call ‘em how I see ‘em and we all know how you and Mom won Trivia Pursuit,” he replied with a narrowed gaze.

“Uh… through our amazing knowledge of trivia, of course!” Zelena declared.

“Through your amazing magical talent of cheating,” David stated.

This was how Family Game Night always went. They would spend at least an hour taunting, teasing, accusing, and deciding on what to play. Then, the game would be chosen and more accusations would be fired, along with tons of playful arguing… and sometimes not so playful. One night, Emma spent more time than she liked as a toad after winning at Trouble. Regina was such a sore loser. 

All in all, they seemed to be building a pretty normal family. Over the year, there were, of course, Storybrooke problems. Emma and Regina generally handled those. Zelena actually helped with one when it looked like Regina was about to get ended. It was something else that helped the sisters become closer and showed Emma that Zelena was sincere in wanting to be a part of their family.

The one thing that Emma thought was weird was that Rumplestiltskin had sort of vanished. Belle was seen around town with Will Scarlet for a while, but he vanished, too, and Belle started spending a lot of time with Ruby. Henry had expressed worry a long time ago over Rumple plotting something against Lilith, but he planned for it because… well, that was what Henry did.

Still, Emma felt like this was the happiest she had ever been. She felt like she belonged and she had a purpose. Not to mention, she had love and was loved in return. This was perfect.

-8-8-8-8- 

Family Game Night ended the same way it always did. The Charmings went home and Regina cleaned up with some help from her grandmother and sister while Emma pushed Henry to get ready for bed. With everything done, Emma and Regina retired to bed where Regina played the little spoon to Emma’s embrace.

Emma was surprisingly clingy in bed and when they were alone. Regina accepted it and opened herself to it, but had to learn when to pull back. Regina wanted to cling when there were people around, for so many reasons and she knew she needed to work through them. Emma soothed her by staying close sometimes. But, she also put space between them to help Regina get comfortable with the idea and learn Emma would always come back. 

“So, I notice you like little people,” Emma said after a comfortable silence.

“I should. We have two of them in the family and they’ll be little for a while,” Regina replied. Over the year, she had learned to let one little person go — Roland. Part of it was a punishment from Robin, but more so, she just felt it was not right for her to get close to him after being responsible for his mother’s death… the first time. Zelena was not very partial to Roland, so they did not have to worry about him being around her. Zelena was not very partial to Robin either and was not happy that she _had_ to split custody of Hunter with him. Regina made sure Zelena stuck to the arrangement and understood how much this all meant to Zelena by the simple fact that she kept up with it.

“Well, what if we had another little person around here? A yours and mine little person?” Emma proposed, pointing to each of them.

“I do believe he’s called Henry,” Regina remarked with an amused smile. 

Emma laughed. “I don’t think he’s a little person anymore. He’s taller than you now.”

“He is.” It caused a ping in her, but that did not mean they should rush into having another child. “I only just talked you into seriously moving in and now you want a baby?” 

“Well, I’m all in now!” Emma grinned and held Regina a little tighter. “Besides, your grandmother will do the heavy lifting.”

Regina chuckled and wrapped her arms around the strong arms around her. “Let’s bask in this for a while longer.”

“I know. I’m just putting it out there. So, now we can talk about it. Plus, we’ll have to talk about it with Henry. Hell, with Zelena because she’ll have to be serious about finding an apartment. So, lots of talking. It’ll probably take a while.”

Regina laughed. They had all gotten better at talking. It helped bring them together and keep them together as a family. So, yeah, there would be talking and maybe it would even be about that. And maybe nothing would come of it, or maybe something would, but the point was that there was an open dialogue between all of them thanks to Nana.

“We’ll talk about later,” Regina said. Emma just smiled.

-8-8-8-8-

The End.

A special thanks to sailor8t for beta-reading. Thank you all for reading. I hope you enjoyed the story. If so, please, check out some of my other works. For now, I'm returning to my padded room. Hopefully, I'll be back and so will you. Thanks again. I appreciate the support.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you wanna see more of my fanfics, they're all at FFN under [StarvingLunatic](https://www.fanfiction.net/~starvinglunatic). If you wanna see some original stories, you can look at FP under [StarvingLunatic](https://www.fictionpress.com/u/576301/).


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